A nasty dispute between Gabrielle Union and BET has come to an end now that the parties have reached a settlement in the actress’s $3-million breach of contract lawsuit against over the network’s series “Being Mary Jane”, with fourth and fifth seasons of the series moving ahead as scheduled.
As Deadline reports, Union filed the lawsuit in October, alleging that producers had reneged on a deal to provide a “significant” break between the series’ fourth and fifth seasons when plans were instead made to produce both seasons back to back in order to save costs.
In her suit, Union was seeking $3 million in damages and assurances that the series would produce no more than 13 episodes in a season, claiming producers were instead trying to “cram all of the episodes into a single season in order to fraudulently extend the term of Ms. Union’s contract.”
Following the settlement, BET has released the following statement: “BET Networks is pleased to announce that they have reached an amicable agreement with Gabrielle Union and look forward to sharing the new season of ‘Being Mary Jane’ with its loyal fans beginning January 10, 2017.” No further details were provided.
As Deadline notes, when Union took the role in the series she insisted on a maximum of 13 episodes per season in order to afford the time to continue to take on movie roles in addition to starring in the series.
Now that a settlement has been reached, the fourth season of “Being Mary Jane” will premiere on Jan. 10.
