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Home • Celebrity

Jada Pinkett Smith Speaks Out On Mo'Nique And Fair Pay

Jada Pinkett Smith Speaks Out On Mo'Nique And Netflix
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By Sydney Scott · Updated October 24, 2020

Jada Pinkett Smith is speaking out about fair pay following Mo’Nique’s recent video calling for fans to boycott Netflix after they offered her $500,000 for a comedy special. 

Smith took to Twitter, writing, “You don’t have to like Mo’Nique’s approach. You don’t have to agree with her boycott but don’t allow all of that to make you blind to the fact that non-white women and impoverished white women are underpaid, underrepresented and undervalued EVERYWHERE by EVERYONE.”

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You don’t have to like Mo’Nique’s approach. You don’t have to agree with her boycott but don’t allow all of that to make you blind to the fact that non-white women and impoverished white women are underpaid, underrepresented and undervalued EVERYWHERE by EVERYONE.

— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) January 23, 2018

She added, “As a community, we should be supporting the light she is shining on this truth.”

You don’t have to like Mo’Nique’s approach. You don’t have to agree with her boycott but don’t allow all of that to make you blind to the fact that non-white women and impoverished white women are underpaid, underrepresented and undervalued EVERYWHERE by EVERYONE.

— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) January 23, 2018

In a video shared to Instagram, Mo’Nique calls the company’s offer an example of “gender bias and color bias,” adding that celebs like Amy Schumer, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle were offered millions for their specials. 

Wanda Sykes also spoke out following Mo’Nique’s video, “.@moworldwide, thank you for speaking out. @netflix offered me less than half of your $500k.  I was offended but found another home. #EPIX”

.@moworldwide, thank you for speaking out. @netflix offered me less than half of your $500k. I was offended but found another home. #EPIX

— Wanda Sykes (@iamwandasykes) January 21, 2018

Further conversation was sparked after it was revealed that the streaming service took a $39 million after cutting Kevin Spacey, who was recently accused of sexual assault, from numerous projects. Film and television writer ReBecca Theodore-Vachon tweeted, “So many people arguing why Mo’Nique doesn’t deserve to be paid what she’s worth. Let’s see if these same people talk about how these White dudes (Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K.) is costing Netflix losses in the millions.”

ok. So many people arguing why Mo'Nique doesn't deserve to be paid what she's worth. Let's see if these same people talk about how these White dudes (Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K.) is costing Netflix losses in the millions.

— FilmFatale_NYC 🇭🇹 🇩🇴 🇺🇸 (@FilmFatale_NYC) January 22, 2018

Netflix is reportedly worth over $100 billion after shares surged on Tuesday, meaning the company is worth more than Viacom, CBS, Time Warner and 21st Century Fox.