Gabrielle Union filed a lawsuit against BET on Tuesday, claiming the network is combining seasons four and five of “Being Mary Jane” to allegedly lower her pay and extend her contract.
Marty Singer, the actress’ attorney, claims the network is trying to film two 10-episode seasons back-to-back in an effort to “cram all of the episodes into a single season in order to fraudulently extend the term of Ms. Union’s contract,” according to THR.
Union and Singer believe BET is trying to avoid paying her contractual raise and extend its option to engage her service for another year.
“Under her contract, Union is set to receive $150,000 per episode for season four and $165,000 per episode for season five,” reports THR.
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When Union first signed on to be the lead in the project, BET agreed it would never produce more than 13 episodes to allow Union to continue working in motion pictures.
She is seeking damages worth up to $1 million and a contract amendment that explicitly states a maximum of 13 episodes per season.