BY:
Published 10 years ago
Well, this is interesting.
With the exception of her now cancelled talk show, we haven’t seen much of Mo’Nique since her 2010 Oscar win for Precious.
In fact, she’s only starred in two feature films since then?2014’s Blackbird and About.
So why hasn’t Mo’Nique received more film and television roles since her Oscar win?
Well, in an essay to be published in The Hollywood Reporter on February 27, Mo’Nique claims that she was blackballed by Hollywood.
She was initially considered to star in The Butler (in a role that later went to Oprah) and was in line for other roles but says those opportunities “just went away.”
“I got a phone call from Lee Daniels, and he said to me, ‘Mo’Nique, you’ve been blackballed.’ I said, ‘Why?’ And he said, ‘Because you didn’t play the game.'”
Mo’Nique famously did not campaign for her 2010 Oscar win and has been cited as being difficult and tacky.
Lee Daniels issued the following statement to The Hollywood Reporter:
“Mo’Nique is a creative force to be reckoned with. Her demands through Precious were not always in line with the campaign. 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.”
Lee’s statement was nice but definitely loaded.
You can click here to check out an interesting Q&A expounding Mo’Nique’s views.
Watch the theatrical trailer for Mo’Nique’s upcoming film Blackbird below.