"Being Mary Jane" actress Gabrielle Union has reached a multi-million dollar settlement against network BET in a breach of contract lawsuit.
Union was reportedly seeking general damages lawsuit of at least $3 million and a declaration that the network could not seek more than 13 seasons for any season of the series, Deadline reported. In October, Union's camp alleged that BET and the "Being Mary Jane" producers willfully changed the terms of their agreement to cut costs. The producers reportedly set aside the agreed provision about substantial break between the 10-episode fourth and fifth seasons of the show.
Under her contract, Union is set to receive at least $150,000 per episode for the show's fourth season and $165,000 per episode for its fifth season. According to her lawyers, the contract she signed for BET's "Being Mary Jane" took into her account her status as a movie star and was drafted to accommodate her film career, The Hollywood Reporter reported.
BET's camp reportedly assured Union's legal team that the actress will not be required to appear in more than 13 episodes. The actress reportedly agreed to sign the contract because of this.
However, as a corporate policy, the performer agreement was amended by a provision that allows a minimum of 10 episodes and a maximum of 26 episode appearances for the actress. Apparently, the actress was not notified about it until a week before the principal photography that the network wanted to slate all 20 episodes as Season 4.
For its part, since the news broke, BET promised to deliver a positive resolution on the issue.
"Being Mary Jane" had only eight episodes in Season 1 and 12 episodes in Season 2. The increased episodes prompted Union's representatives to renegotiate her contract so that she would be paid for 13 episodes.
In June 2015, the series lost its showrunner after Season 3 but the series was still picked up for Season 4.
Watch the trailer below for "Being Mary Jane" Season 4: