Both Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock made a lot of money off their stand-up special deals with Netflix. It was recently reported that Amy Schumer retroactively demanded to make the same from the streaming service, a claim she has denied with a mostly nude pic, as one does.
Variety initially reported that Schumer negotiated for more money in an article about the pay gap in media for women performers. The passage referring to Schumer’s fight against the pay gap doesn’t explicitly say that she asked for her check to equal Rock or Chapelle’s, veteran comics who have been selling out shows for longer than Schumer has been working, but that’s what many took away from the following:
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. 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.
“Significantly more compensation” on top of $11 million sure sounds like close to $20 million, so the confusion is somewhat understandable. Schumer responded on Instagram on Wednesday, writing that both men are “legends” and that she doesn’t think she deserves to make what they do yet. But she is the first female comic to sell out an arena, after all:
Hot dog dog. Thanks for chiming in on what you feel I deserve to be paid. I believe women deserve equal pay. However I don’t believe I deserve equal pay to Chris and Dave. They are legends and 2 of the greatest comics of all time. 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. I will continue to work my ass off and be the best performer I can be. The reports of me “demanding” or “insisting” on equal pay to them aren’t a true. #fat #stealsjokes
There you have it. Schumer probably isn’t making as much as Dave Chappelle or Chris Rock, but she definitely made a lot of money.