In The Hollywood Reporter’s Oscar edition a few weeks ago, Mo’nique wrote an essay describing what happened to her following her 2010 Best Supporting Actress Oscar win for Precious. Mo’nique rather famously refused to “play the game” and really campaign for her Oscar nomination. She didn’t attend many screenings, did very little press, didn’t shake a lot of hands, etc. There were even stories that Mo’nique wanted “appearance fees” for showing up to various events, and that when she did come to some events, she was rude and unpleasant. Frankly, I’m sort of surprised that she did end up winning the Oscar that year, but whatever. It seemed like Hollywood got caught up and for the past five years, Mo’nique has barely worked.
In her THR essay, she described being up for various notable parts (in The Butler, the Richard Pryor bio-pic, and Empire – although producers now claim she was never offered a part), but seeing those parts disappear suddenly. She wrote that Lee Daniels had told her that she had been “blackballed” from Hollywood because of her crappy attitude. When THR got in touch with Lee Daniels, he pretty much confirmed that he told her that too. Well, now Mo’nique is telling Good Morning America that she really doesn’t think she has been blackballed. Wait, what? Note: Mo’nique goes Full Kellan Lutz by referring to herself in the third person throughout this interview.
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Mo’nique says, in part, that: “People were saying someone needs to teach Monique a lesson because she’s not playing the game. And she’s going to get in her own way of winning this award because it seems like she’s choosing her family over Hollywood…” Except that she really wasn’t choosing her family over Hollywood – I remember that awards season very well. She kept talking about how she was working on all of this other stuff and that’s why she didn’t want to campaign. When asked if she believes Hollywood has shunned her, she said:
“I had no idea because I don’t think that Hollywood has turned its nose up to me. I think that those are feelings that Mr. Daniels is having and then he said there were things that Monique, she didn’t thank the producers and the studio. And that’s just not things that you do. Well, it had nothing to do with the producers nor the studio. Mr. Daniels had a problem that I didn’t say his name the night of the Oscar awards.”
Speaking about Mo’Nique, the critically-acclaimed director previously told CNN, “It’s show business. And you got to play ball.” Her response?
“I appreciate that comment,” she said. “Because he’s absolutely right. It is show business. A game does have to be played but why can’t we play the fair game? Why can’t we play the right game? If you’re asking am I willing to put my integrity on the line for Hollywood? No.”
She continued, insisting that she’s still getting calls for work, in spite of Daniels’ remarks.
“Again, if I had, the scripts and the calls would have stopped coming because Hollywood is a small community,” she says in response to the claims that she’s “soured” relationships. “They never stopped coming.”
“Please don’t feel bad or sorry for Mo’Nique,” she continued before concluding, “Because Mo’Nique doesn’t feel bad or sorry for Mo’Nique. You would be wasting your energy.”
I really don’t understand this play from Mo’nique. She sounds as out-of-touch as she did during the 2010 awards season. She was the one who started this ball rolling when she wrote her essay for THR. Lee Daniels was responding to what she wrote about their conversations, and now she’s acting like he’s the petty drama queen, like he’s the one attacking her out of nowhere (when really, she’s the petty drama queen). I think she’s legitimately pissed off that Lee Daniels has promised her certain roles and then he suddenly recasts those parts (with Oprah, for the most part). This isn’t so much about Mo’nique and whether “Hollywood” has mistreated her, it’s some feud between Lee Daniels and Mo’nique.
The thing is, if you don’t want to play the game, fine, don’t play the game. Don’t promote your work, don’t shake those hands, don’t go to awards shows and don’t do press. Let your work speak for itself. The problem is not that Mo’nique won’t play the game, it’s that she plays the game very badly. She thinks she can reinvent the wheel and the only people who get to do that are the people who have already played the game, paid their dues and won many times over.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Lee Daniels won’t hire Monique. It seems every role she names involves him. She didn’t site Spike Lee or Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg.
I think Monique is trying to expose Lee Daniels for not supporting Black Actors and being a game player. He started the bad press about her when he said she was difficult to work with.
Actually Monique decided to make this public by doing the THR interview and telling us what Lee told her.She then went on CNN and Inside Edition and said she wasn’t blackballed at all.She claims she got tons of scripts but they weren’t offering the salary she should get as a person who won an Oscar.Just yesterday she was on GMA saying she wants to work with Lee again.She needs to have a seat because every interview she does contradicts the previous interviews.She is appearing on Access Hollywood Live in a few hrs.
Lee Daniels created Empire ( all Black cast)and he is directing Richard Pryor biopic how the hell is he not supporting Black actors.?Gabby from Precious is on Empire.
If she has a problem with Lee why hasn’t she worked with Z Tyler,Will Packer, Spike etc?Precious was filmed in 2008 released in 2009 . Its 2015.She needs to have a seat somewhere.
@Kim1 YES! And Gaby has been doing other work. She had a role on “The C Word”. I bet she didn’t snub it because it didn’t pay the salary she should get for an Oscar winner! You are right. She needs to take a seat and shut up. I’m so sick of all her entitlement bs.
Kim, Mo called Lee Daniels out on GMA specifically. She made sure she said the problem was Lee and that she didn’t thank him and the producers enough.
So why she does want to work with him again? Debra Roberts clearly states Monique would like to work with Lee Daniels again.Why did she want to do Empire which she just said on Inside Edition Friday? .Lee Daniels is the director of Empire .If she specifically has an issue with him for claiming she was blackballed she should avoid him like the plague.She claims he is the one who deemed her as difficult so why would you want to work with him in any way?Especially when she talks about her integrity.
GMAB
Lee Daniels is the creator of Empire. He directed the pilot others direct the episodes.
I don’t think she really wants to work with Lee again. I think she is just saying that to put him in a difficult position. At the same time, trying to show who he really is.
Black Hollywood is very small. People must call him and ask his opinion of her all the time. I think she realized after continually not getting roles he promised her and giving her bad advice on what roles to take that he was not really her friend.
I don’t think this is really for us, the public. I think it is for her contemporaries. Prior to Precious, Mo had the Parkers, the Queens of Comedy and her own show on the BET.
I don’t think Mo is a great person but the point is to show that neither is Lee Daniels.
LMAO
Let’s see what has Monique done since winning the Oscar? She got fired from BET.She got sued by her landlord for back rent.The Queens of Comedy was 15 years ago, The Parkers ended 11 years.
Lee is an executive producer and co creator of Empire.He has directed two episodes of the first season.He directed The Butler and is about to direct Richard Pryor biography.
She is showing her contemporaries how to look like a fool by changing her narrative in five different interviews.According to her, her career is great she was never blackballed.
How does Lee Daniels not support black actors?
She started it when she wrote the THR editorial. Lee Daniels was then asked to corroborate and he said that yes, he did tell her this. Now, she tries to act like she doesn’t believe it or know it when she wrote the article in the first place. Ugh….I can’t with this woman and I know why no one will hire her. She’s a pain in the butt and you can’t be a pain in the butt unless you are A+list with very few exceptions. As for Lee Daniels not supporting black actors, about every movie he makes is filled with them. Honestly. I wouldn’t hire her to walk my dog. How unpleasant.
This is self-defeating behavior and I have to wonder about her mental health.
People don’t always know how to deal with success — but lashing out at people who would hire you is definitely not the answer.
This is one unpleasant lady. If I was a power player in her field I wouldn’t work with her either. Why should they subject themselves to her nasty ways when they don’t have too?
Exactly!
Well, she doesn’t have to put her integrity on the line for Hollywood, and Hollywood, in turn, doesn’t have to put its money on the line for her integrity.
Mo’Nique needs to drink a glass of stfu and either get to work or leave the business.
This making the rounds complaining is not the way to go.
+100. Totally agree.
For realz. Whenever I hear someone spouting off about their “integrity,” I can be reasonably sure that they have none.
+1.
Monique should tell Monique to STFU
HA!!!
OK that was a good one – thanks LOLLLL.
ROFL!
Sounds like she has an attitude problem. People don’t want to work with rude people Oscar or no Oscar
People who refer to themselves in the third person invariably turn out to be self-important, delusional blowhards.
GNAT, the Kiddo would like to express deep disappointment in your latest comment.
Um, unless it Kiddo. Then it’s cute.
Nope, still much delusional blowhard.
She didn’t thank him when she won the Oscars then she is surprised he won’t hire her? What planet is she living on?
She keeps changing what she is complaining about. I think, if you want to move to the next level, you have to make the most of every opportunity and invest yourself in your career. She chose not to do that, and it backfired on her.
THIS. She keeps changing her story and rewriting history. We all remember what she was like 5 years ago-we all remember what she said in her THR story. Make up your mind and stick to it.
Also the smug idea that ‘i have a Oscar, give me more money now’-shows she totally overestimated what a Oscar can do for your career.
Her changing the story keeps people talking about it. She has to figure out a way to still get attention since it won’t be acting in movies
Rest assured Mo’nique, I do not feel bad or sorry for Mo’nique.
Exactly.
Even in her Oscar speech, if I recall correctly, she mentioned something about her winning proved that you didn’t have to play the campaign game or something like that.
As for her recent drama….oh well. I don’t feel sorry for her.
Now she backtracks. LOL. Throws Lee Daniels under the bus also?
And stop talking in the third person. How arrogant doing that. My mind exploded trying to follow her third person narrative.
I find her very unlikable in this interview.
When it comes to Oscar wins I always think Robin Williams (rest his soul) described it best. For two weeks you are royalty and then it’s back to “hey Mork!”.
The movie star is an almost dead concept so the a Oscar boost is smaller than ever. You think Eddie Redmayne can suddenly open a movie to $50 million? Not a chance; not unless he plays a superhero. The Oscar win won’t bring audiences to the next movie on the actor name. Monique needed to do a LOT more roles (at likely just a modest salary boost) to have any Hollywood power.
Gah! Third person talk. What an annoying, self involved person!
Anyways, Mo’nique doesn’t want you to feel sorry for Mo’nique. She just wanted to take out her anger on Lee Daniels, and she found her outlet. She vented /called him out. He admitted in press. And now her two minutes are over. She doesn’t know what to do. Her plan backfired, Mo’nique knows it. So, don’t feel bad for Mo’nique.
I find it odd that Monique believes that getting that Oscar = getting more money. HA! If anything they seem to be career killers for women.
Yet, I understand wanting to be paid a fair wage. I wonder if she ever got a bonus check from the profits for Precious. Or if all she received was the flat fee she got up front and nothing else. I suspect there is so much more to the story between her and Lee Daniels.
Even though Lee Daniels seems to be getting all the credit for Empire. It was created by Danny Strong who still is very much involved with the show. (Danny is also an actor… and was recently on Justified too.)
But Monique is not doing her self any favors with all the chatter. Especially when she can not find a story and stick to it.
Lee mentioned Danny multiple times in his CNN interview with Don Lemon.He called Danny his (business) partner and credits Danny with giving him the courage to put the scene where five year old Jamal is thrown in the thrash can by his father.Lee was thrown in a trash can by his father after he put on his mom’s heels.Danny is probably a low key guy who doesn’t enjoy interviews.He did tweet that Monique was never offered Cookie role on Empire.
I love Danny Strong – Jonathan from Buffy! He was good on Justified too. It’s great that he’s had so much success writing.
I’d be surprised if she got more money than the original deal from Precious, but what she did get was the opportunity to network with many other people in the business during the awards season, a lot of publicity for the movie, and a chance to turn that into future roles. She didn’t want to do any of that unless she was paid, apparently.
It just cracks me up that Danny Strong and Lee Daniels are a pair. Who knew Jonathan was such a great writer?
Several Things:
1. Danny Strong and Lee Daniels work on projects together. Danny Strong was the writer for THE BUTLER as an example. They are a team. They will continue to work together on other projects with Danny writing and Lee Producing.
2. Producers are involved in the script, so just because one person was credited as the writer doesn’t mean the producer (if they are a separate person) wasn’t involved in the script.
3. PRECIOUS barely made any money. Infact it had a horrid time being financed until Oprah came through and paid for the completion. No one made any money on it despite it’s presence in the awards season. It’s not a box office type film. All those involved would have been stupid to imagine they were going to make any money from it. Now awards……..that’s the best they could have hoped for.
4. It’s presence in awards season opened up opportunities for everyone except Monique for the simple reason that she refused to participate. She lost a chance to network with future employers, and that’s on her.
4. On a different note, I still can’t believe ‘Jonathan’ from ‘Buffy’ is such a good writer. In my head he is forever the geeky, awkward Jonathan.
I’m of several opinions about this one:
1. I agree that Monique didn’t play the game. Every job has a racquet and a game. To get ahead, you either play it or you don’t. Perhaps the price of entry to the game was truly too high for her. We’ve all balked, I’m sure, at kissing certain asses by simply walking away. I know I have.
2. In an interview with the Guardian, about this subject, Monique citied her Baltimore upbringing and the “business ethos” of that–basically “I can do this, this & that but that other one, you will have to pay me. Nothing is really free.” Did she miscalculate & overplay her hand, sure. Lots of folk are guilty of that too. But if she is going to have a presence (longevity) in Hollywood, she will have to acclimate by leaving some of that old self behind. She needs to repurpose those Balto survival skills—communicate them differently.
3. I work with kids. We emphasize staying true to yourself and learning how to present yourself and to communicate well across various settings. I’m not saying poor Monique but I know a lot of kids with her edge and nastiness, if you will. They carry a lot of anger. The learning curve is steep and the journey is long in terms of finding a balance.
Sorry if that’s one big, long ramble.
That’s my takeaway too. She thought winning an Oscar would give her a certain cachet and is now realising that acting like she’s owed, that she’s the sh*t, has not won her any friends or given her any new jobs. Now she’s blaming everybody but herself.
Oops. I think I replied to the wrong person.
LAK you are on point, specifically with reason #4. She absolutely refused to do ANY promotional work and wanted to get paid separately or In addition to for any of these appearances. She was rude, uncooperative and completely unprofessional –and she brought that all on herself.
I’m completely over her. And apparently-so isn’t most of Hollywood and it has nothing to do with the fact she is black. I will say it. She is a difficult, over rated bitch and not easy to work with.
She earned those accolades all on her own.
The verbal diarrhea that’s come from this woman, continually biting the hand that feeds her is demonstrating how difficult it must have been to work with her and unfortunately, she’s proving “their” point.
The word is that her husband is difficult to work with as her manager. Shame she is acting like this is Lee’s problem — more likely, he wanted to hire her, but producers nix the idea after her husband makes unreasonable demands. I mean, why ask for money to appear at Cannes when everything you’re given there is comped: hotel room, meals, limo, gowns…
These things are also true and easily verified. Her Husband sucks too, and same with Manager– so this is why Directors, Casting Agents, etc. stay away for her. Not worth the effort and drama. Too many unreasonable demands.
It is what it is, not what she is trying to make it out to be. Her actions and everyone she surrounds herself with add up to her not being desirable to work with. Period!
On ET she said her husband Sidney is also her manager.I am not sure she has an agent.I don’t know who negotiates salaries the manager or the agent.
Agents usually negotiates salaries but you don’t need one. If she doesn’t have one then he husband probably does since he’s her manager.
Ex. Bill Murray=no manager, no agent. Still gets roles.
One of life’s great lessons: don’t treat people badly and then expect them to want to work with you.
Ugh, she is more trouble than she is worth. Why even bother?!
Monique why don’t you tell Monique to write and produce her own project if she is as talented as you claim to be. PROVE IT!
Monique is a far better actress than Oprah thats all i have. ( and i happen to like oprah but it grates me that she takes these parts intended for other legitimate actresses)
I concur. The only acting of Oprah’s that ever moved me was her role In The color Purple. Both her and Whoopi were outstanding in that film.
Mo’nique won’t sacrifice her integrity for Hollywood…unless you pay her $$ to attend an award banquet.
Also, while Oscar winners usually can raise their salary quote, it’s dependent on how much you were earning *before* you won. If your average quote was less than a million and then you win an Oscar, your agent would likely start asking for high six figures. You don’t go from making $100,000 per film to $5,000,000 just because you won an Oscar. Especially these days, when box office performance matters more than statues.
Mo’nique’s problem is with with Lee Daniels. That’s what I suspected from the the beginning. Lee Daniels “blackballed” her.
According to her she was NEVER blacklisted.Her phone has never stopped ringing,she has always being getting scripts.Lee was upset she didn’t mention her in her speech or promote the film.But that hasn’t affected her career.She isn’t working because the offers don’t meet her salary demands.So is she lying?
She is her own worst enemy, it seems. She over-estimated her value to the film industry and got too full of herself. She doesn’t want to play the game, then she doesn’t have to play it. But don’t then complain about what happens next. If I have a handful of good actresses in mind for a role and I think they are mostly equal in ability and fit for said role, why would I hire the person who brings the drama? Who doesn’t want to go out and promote? Who makes things about her and not the film? No way.
I understand not playing the game if you don’t want to – campaigning for an Oscar that is. Several actors over the years have said they aren’t going to campaign and they didn’t, but their careers weren’t negatively affected by that. And the reason is: they didn’t demand money for appearances, treat everyone around them like shit, and have a horrible egotistical attitude. They just went on about their life and work.
THAT is the reason why Monique was blackballed. You can’t be a relative newcomer in any industry and have a diva attitude and think you can get away with it. And all these years later she still doesn’t seem to get the general rule of “treat others the way you wish to be treated”.
It sounds like she just didn’t want to do the part of her job that she didn’t think was fun. I don’t see what that has to do with her “integrity.” If I didn’t do the parts of my job that I didn’t like, nobody would hire me either.
There are a boatload of actors in Hollywood who continue to act despite not being box office success stories anymore, Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston jump to mind. Thing is, people like them. They like them personally, they like how they treat people professionally, and they show up and do their jobs like they should.
There is a distinct advantage in life to getting along with people and a distinct disadvantage to not. Monique isn’t a big enough name to get away with her behavior and a single role wasn’t going to change that.
Bad attitude PLUS as mentioned, she lost her opportunity to network by going to events-she should have seen those not as ‘free promotional duties’ but ‘career investment opportunities’. Not only are they appearances that help promote your film [so that it success financially], but they expose you to others in the industry. That seems to be the part she is not getting-that playing the game as she calls it is also simply networking and selling your brand. This is not excluisive to H-wood, either. Her spinning the stories and changing them also comes across as high drama individual to me-another undesirable characteristic to deal with when making a movie or anytime, really.