Charlamagne Tha God has issued an apology to Mo’Nique after he slammed her for calling on a boycott with Netflix amid a pay controversy back in 2018.
Mo’Nique called for a boycott of the streaming service after they offered her $500,000 for a comedy special – significantly less than what other comedians are paid. She accused Netflix of being gender and color biased, sued them, and ultimately settled in 2022.
At the time the controversy erupted in 2018, Charlamagne, 45, slammed her for the boycott and named her the ‘Donkey of the Day’ on The Breakfast Club.
The ‘Donkey of the Day’ label has clearly stayed with Mo’Nique – she brought it up during a recent appearance on Club Shay Shay.
On Thursday, Charlamagne, 45, finally issued Mo’Nique, 56, an apology – and even named himself the ‘Donkey of the Day.’
Charlamagne Tha God has issued an apology to Mo’Nique after he mocked her for a pay dispute with Netflix back in 2018
‘Mo’Nique, you were right. I had no business speaking on your business,’ Charlamagne said.
‘There is absolutely a paid discrepancy for Black women, Black women are typically paid only sixty cents for every dollar paid to white men, and the wage gap actually widens the 65 cents on the dollar for every Black woman who hold doctorate degrees compared to white men with the same education.
‘Not to mention, all the proof is in the pudding. When you see a company as big as Netflix with all the money Netflix has, they gonna drag this out. They settled with Mo’Nique and still put out a Mo’Nique comedy special.’
‘Okay Mo’Nique, god bless you sister, and if you have never heard me say this before, or if I’ve never said it because I was born in nineteen hundred and seventy-eight and my memory is not what it used to be, I apologize for being wrong.’
His co-hosts urged him to say it again.
‘Regardless of how I felt about the situation with you and Netflix, I had no business in your business and broadcasting your business and it was Envy that I did open the phone lines for people to comment on your business. It wasn’t mine,’ he said, before DJ Envy offered an apology to Mo’Nique.
‘I apologize to her husband Sidney,’ he said after Envy encouraged him to do so. ‘I truly pray this apology is received by you Mo’Nique and I hope you heal because I feel like when I hear someone talking about something for a long period of time, that means that they have been holding onto it and it’s bothering them in some way and a therapist once told me, if you don’t want your peace disturbed, don’t disturb the peace of others.
‘I clearly disturbed your peace. I heard Donkey of the Day mentioned in the intro to your Netflix special, I heard you talk about Donkey of the Day on Club Shay Shay, Mo’Nique, I apologize. I want peace. I want us to heal,’ he said.
‘Mo’Nique, you were right. I had no business speaking on your business,’ Charlamagne said
‘When you see a company as big as Netflix with all the money Netflix has, they settled and still put out a Mo’Nique comedy special,’ he admitted
The star’s Netflix special, My Name Is Mo’Nique, was released last year
Mo’Nique appeared on The Breakfast Club and addressed the issue with Charlamagne back in 2018.
She brought it up again during a recent appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay.
‘I was Donkey of the Day, remember that? I was Donkey of the Day! The Breakfast Nubs called me the Donkey of the Day! That’s what they said! And they had a whole call in about how I was donkey of the day!’ she said. ‘But you didn’t do the same thing when you found out I was settled. Now all of a sudden no one know what a settlement is.’
Mo’Nique sued Netflix for racial and gender bias back in 2019. It was settled in 2022.
The case stemmed from a 2017 meeting between the Oscar-winning Precious star and the streaming site, which was looking to ramp up its stand-up comedy content at the time.
Mo’Nique refused a 2017 offer of $500,000 for a comedy special in which the streaming service would have complete control over the one-hour show, including owning the copyright and retaining all audio-only rights.
The actress addressed her feud with Charlamagne on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay
Mo’Nique, whose real name is Monique Hicks, refused a 2017 offer of $500,000 for a comedy special in which the streaming service would have complete control over the one-hour show, including owning the copyright and retaining all audio-only rights
In turning down the offer, The Bessie actress told executives she thought the low-ball offer was discriminatory.
Instead of continuing negotiations, Netflix walked away from the table.
The comedian and her attorneys filed suit in 2019, arguing that ending talks for the deal was retaliatory, as the usual practice is to start with a low number and gradually increase the offer until an agreement is reached.
They contended that white women, such as Amy Schumer and Ellen DeGeneres, and men, including Dave Chapelle and Ricky Gervais reportedly earned tens of millions of dollars for their comedy specials.
In a 2018 interview with Sway in the Morning, the BMF actress admitted she worried that accepting such a low offer would affect other women of color
Amy was reportedly going to be paid $11 million for The Leather Special, but when she learned of the high price tags attached to specials being headed by men, re-negotiated her deal with the streaming giant, and received it, earning $13 million, according to the complaint.
In a 2018 interview with Sway in the Morning, the BMF actress admitted she worried that accepting such a low offer would affect other women of color.
‘If I accepted $500 thousand, what does Tiffany Haddish have coming? If I accept that, what does the Black female comedian have coming? Because what they’ll say is, “Mo’Nique accepted this and she’s got that.” So what do they have coming?’
Netflix tried to have the case dismissed, twice, but US District Judge Andre Birotte Jr. refused to do so. In a 2020 opinion, the federal judge wrote, ‘At the very least, Mo’Nique’s allegations permit the plausible inference that, had she not challenged her offer as discriminatory, Netflix would have continued negotiating in good faith with her and increased her offer, consistent with its customary practice in dealing with talent in the entertainment industry.’
