Tina Fey Slammed By 'Mean Girls' Author Rosalind Wiseman As She Pursues Legal Action Against Paramount

Wiseman wrote the 2002 book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, which inspired the massively successful movie starring Fey, Lindsay Lohan, and Rachel McAdams, among others.

The Saturday Night Live alum, 52, also served as scriptwriter and producer, while Paramount Pictures was the distributor. The movie has since been remade into a Broadway musical, also by Fey.

Both Fey and Paramount have earned millions from the blockbuster franchise. But Wiseman is not happy.

Back in 2002, she sold the film rights to her book for $400,000, and that was all she ever earned from it.

The Washington DC-born writer is now planning to take legal action, telling the New York Post, “We have reached out to Paramount to have things be more equitable, but Paramount is not interested in that.”

“I think it’s fair for me to be able to get compensated in some way for the work that has changed our culture and changed the zeitgeist,” she added.

Wiseman also criticized Fey for her lack of support.

“Over the years Tina’s spoken so eloquently about women supporting other women, but it’s gotten increasingly clear to me that, in my own personal experience, that’s not going to be the experience,” she explained.

“You don’t just talk about supporting women, you actually do it,” the author added.

Fey and Wiseman met in 2002 following the publication of Queen Bees. The comedian, who had a development deal with Paramount, wanted to buy the film rights. Wiseman agreed, even though she’d received several other offers.

Her reason for choosing Fey? The SNL star had made her feel as if they were “doing this together.”

The movie was created on a $17 million budget but grossed $130 million worldwide after its release in 2004, and has become a pop culture icon in the last 20 years.

Wiseman said that although Fey “recognized and acknowledged” her for the material, she felt she’d been treated unfairly when it came to money.

While she admitted that her original contract was “terrible,” it had stated that she would receive net profits depending on the movie’s box office revenues.

However, Paramount Pictures allegedly told her the franchise didn’t make any money and even incurred additional expenses.

The author also revealed to the New York Post that a theater producer had approached her years ago with the idea for a Mean Girls musical.

She contacted Fey and Paramount about it but was not given the go-ahead. Fey would later create the musical and use Wiseman’s name on the playbill. However, she was not compensated for it financially.

The writer attended the star-studded Broadway premiere and after-party, which came complete with an extravagant spread.

There, she had a painful realization, telling the outlet, “There was a moment for me, I was at this incredible party and I’m thinking how much money this party must have cost, probably more than I was paid.”