On Friday (Jan 19), comedian and actress Mo’Nique took to Instagram calling for a boycott of Netflix for alleged pay and color bias. According to her, the media giant only offered her a measly $500,000 for a comedy special. Mo’Nique noted that other comedians were offered millions, citing Amy Schumer’s 11 million offer and Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle’s 20 million offers each.
While comedian Wanda Sykes supported the boycott revealing she was also low-balled by the streaming service, Tony Rock believes that checking for what others make is poor “etiquette.” During an impromptu interview with TMZ, Rock explained that Mo’Nique needs to worry about her own money.
“First of all Its never a good look, it's poor etiquette, its poor comedy etiquette, its poor people etiquette to count anybody else’s money,” Rock explained. “You get your weight up. You get your check to say what you want your check to say. Don’t worry about what nobody else checks say.”
Rock went on to highlight that he hasn’t seen Mo’Nique on stage in a “long time” and that absence in comedy world doesn’t allow you to have the “’same spot” when you return. "Standup ain’t the type of thing you can stop doing and just jump right back in your same spot.” Rock said, “You know what I mean, it ain’t like riding a bike.”
Yet, Rock does believe that Mo’Nique has a chance to make more if she builds more of a buzz for herself going into the special. “I’m sure if she tours to get ready for the special, and the momentum is built back up, and the excitement is there, she could get the money back up.”
