Amy Schumer confirmed Thursday that she sought more money from Netflix after learning what fellow comedians Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle were being paid by the streaming service for their stand-up specials.
In an Instagram post Thursday, Schumer confirmed a report in Variety‘s Tuesday cover story that Netflix agreed to increase her fee for “The Leather Special” after a deal had already been set.
“Amy Schumer couldn’t have been hotter as a personality when she set a deal last year to star in a comedy special for Netflix, ‘The Leather Special,’ which premiered in March,” Variety reported Tuesday. “But when Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle made headlines for commanding eye-popping deals for $20 million per special, Schumer’s team went back to Netflix and flatly asked for more money. According to a source, Schumer was initially paid about $11 million for her special. She received significantly more compensation after she raised the question of fairness relative to the Rock and Chappelle deals.”
Schumer wrote Thursday that she never sought pay equal to what Rock and Chappelle were making.
“I believe women deserve equal pay,” she said on Instagram. “However I don’t believe I deserve equal pay to Chris and Dave. They are legends and [two] of the greatest comics of all time.”
She continued, “I would like to say that I have been selling out arenas these last couple years. Something a female comic has never done. That’s a big deal to me, especially because I know I do my best every night on stage for the audience and they have a good time. I didn’t ask for the same as my friends. I did ask for more than the initial offer.”
A Netflix spokesperson declined a request for comment.
