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It’s been five years since Mo’Nique won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal of the wicked mother in Precious. Winning an Oscar should be the turning point for an actor’s career, and it was for Mo’Nique, just not in the direction she imagined. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the comedienne-actress admits that she’s been “blackballed” from the movie industry.
She found out from director Lee Daniels in 2014. He told her that she “didn’t play the game” and eluded that her manager husband was doing harm than good to her career. She remembered from their conversation:
“Mo’Nique, you’ve been blackballed.” And I said, “I’ve been blackballed? Why have I been blackballed?” And he said, “Because you didn’t play the game.” And I said, “Well, what game is that?” And he gave me no response. The next thing he said to me was, “Your husband is outbidding you.” But he never asked me what [salary] we were asking for. You know, my husband and I had to change things so we wouldn’t have to depend on [others].
Mo’Nique mentioned the fact that her Oscar win was “about her performance” and not politics.
Daniels, responded to her claim saying that his friend ruffled feathers making bold demands during her time filming Precious.
“This soured her relationship with the Hollywood community. I consider her a friend. I have and will always think of her for parts that we can collaborate on. However, the consensus among the creative teams and powers thus far were to go another way with these roles.”
Mo’Nique said that she’s been offered parts for the Daniels’ productions Empire, Oprah’s role from The Butler, and the role as Richard Pryor’s grandmother in the biopic, but all of those deals were scrapped. We haven’t seen Mo’Nique much since her BET talk show was canceled in 2011.
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