Gabrielle Union Sues BET
Lights, camera, faction.
Actress Gabrielle Union fired off a lawsuit against BET, claiming the network tried to short-change her by stuffing more episodes into a single season of her show “Being Mary Jane” than she agreed upon, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The 42-year-old star contends producers for the hit series vowed that seasons would never run more than 13 episodes, but they’re now trying to jam 20 shows into Season 4.
Union is slated for a raise from $150,000 per episode to $165,000 in Season 5 and believes the network is attempting to “fraudulently extend” the terms of her contract, according to the lawsuit.
The contract she signed, however, does permit the network to make a season a maximum of 26 episodes, but Union reportedly says that provision is standard for deals signed by the Viacom media conglomerate and that she was repeatedly promised they’d never go beyond 13 episodes for her show, according to TMZ.
She’s reportedly seeking upwards of $1 million in damages and wants her contract to guarantee they won’t go beyond the episode limit they allegedly promised her.
Execs at BET, meanwhile, insist they did nothing wrong.
“While we hold Gabrielle Union in the highest esteem, we feel strongly that we are contractually well within our rights and are committed to reaching a swift and positive resolution in this matter,” the network declared in a statement, according to Deadline.
Production has already begun for the fourth season of “Being Mary Jane,” which centers on a television news anchor (played by Union) who juggles her job with everyday family life.
Each of the first three seasons contained between nine and 11 episodes.
SOURCE: WWF
