--- title: Gabrielle Union Says Suing BET Is About Fixing the Wage Gap description: Gabrielle Union took the fight for equity to a new level by suing BET for "outrageous conduct" related to her payment canonical: https://time.com/4562385/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit/ author: Megan Lasher article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-08T16:10:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:03:48.266Z og:title: Gabrielle Union Says Suing BET Is About Fixing the Wage Gap og:description: 'I put in the same hours as most men and if not more' og:url: https://time.com/4562385/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3eed85ce53ced0be/6988ad778e06014547468298/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Premiere Of Universal's "Almost Christmas" - Arrivals og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Gabrielle Union Says Suing BET Is About Fixing the Wage Gap twitter:description: 'I put in the same hours as most men and if not more' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3eed85ce53ced0be/6988ad778e06014547468298/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Gabrielle Union Says Suing BET Is About Fixing the Wage Gap > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Nov 8, 2016 4:10 PM UTC  Gabrielle Union attends the premiere of Universal's "Almost Christmas" at Regency Village Theatre on November 3, 2016 in Westwood, California. Gabrielle Union attends the premiere of Universal's "Almost Christmas" at Regency Village Theatre on November 3, 2016 in Westwood, California. Tommaso Boddi—WireImage/Getty Images by [Megan Lasher](https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/) ## Megan Lasher Nov 8, 2016 4:10 PM UTC Many actresses are speaking out about Hollywood’s massive pay gap, but Gabrielle Union is taking the fight for equal pay to a new level by [suing BET](https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/gabrielle-union-complaint-wm.pdf) for [“outrageous conduct”](http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/gabrielle-union-being-mary-jane-lawsuit) related to her payment. Now, Union is elaborating on the lawsuit and what it means to her career. “I put in the same hours as most men and if not more. And I deserve to get paid the same. Equal pay, equal work. And that’s how it should be,” Union[ said in the November 3 episode](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gabrielle-union-i-deserve-to-get-paid-the-same-as-men%5Fus%5F5820c533e4b0d9ce6fbda705) of _Watch What Happens Live!,_ according to the Huffington Post.”If you stand up for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.” She addressed fans’ fears that the lawsuit will prevent her from portraying the title character in BET’s _Being Mary Jane_. “I’m a pro and we all go to work, and Season 4 will air January 10 on BET,” Union said. “And hopefully in the meantime we can sort out some business that’s fair and reasonable and equitable to not just me, but our whole cast and our writers and our crew.” This isn’t the first time Union has spoken out about a polarizing issue. Earlier this year, she released a personal statement in the Los Angeles _Times_ [addressing ](http://motto.time.com/4477442/gabrielle-union-nate-parker-sexual-assault/)[_Birth of a Nation_ ](http://motto.time.com/4477442/gabrielle-union-nate-parker-sexual-assault/)[director Nate Parker’s sexual assault allegations](http://motto.time.com/4477442/gabrielle-union-nate-parker-sexual-assault/). She’s also [been a familiar face](http://motto.time.com/4519486/gabrielle-union-makeup-free-movement/) in [Alicia Keys’](http://motto.time.com/4558369/alicia-keys-album-body-positive/) makeup-free movement. [\[h/t Huffington Post\]](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gabrielle-union-i-deserve-to-get-paid-the-same-as-men%5Fus%5F5820c533e4b0d9ce6fbda705) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4562385/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4562385/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit/"},"headline":"Gabrielle Union Says Suing BET Is About Fixing the Wage Gap","datePublished":"2016-11-08T16:10:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:03:48.266Z","description":"'I put in the same hours as most men and if not more'","url":"https://time.com/4562385/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3eed85ce53ced0be/6988ad778e06014547468298/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan Lasher","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-lasher/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3eed85ce53ced0be/6988ad778e06014547468298/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Premiere Of Universal's \"Almost Christmas\" - Arrivals","caption":"Gabrielle Union attends the premiere of Universal's \"Almost Christmas\" at Regency Village Theatre on November 3, 2016 in Westwood, California.","creditText":"Tommaso Boddi—WireImage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4562385/gabrielle-union-bet-lawsuit/","name":"Gabrielle Union Says Suing BET Is About Fixing the Wage Gap"}}]}] ```