Key Takeaways
- Mo’Nique says she’s “never closed the door” to public conversations with Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey about her alleged blackballing.
- The actress and comedienne previously alleged the fallout over her refusal to do unpaid promotion for 2009 drama Precious damaged her livelihood.
- Mo’Nique reconciled with Precious director Lee Daniels in 2022 and starred in his 2024 horror-drama The Deliverance.
Nearly twenty years after allegedly being blackballed during the promotional tour for Precious, Mo’Nique still wants a conversation with the film’s executive producers Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey.
After years of friction with Precious director Lee Daniels, Mo’Nique reunited with the filmmaker in 2022 and the entertainer starred in his 2024 horror-drama The Deliverance. On the Nov. 4 episode of The Streetz Morning Takeover, Mo’Nique was asked if she had “opened a door” to reach a “compromise” with those who’ve ostracized her from the industry, possibly alluding to Perry and Winfrey. The media moguls were alleged to have shunned Mo’Nique after her refusal to participate in unpaid promotional obligations for Precious.
Around the thirteen-minute mark of the video below, the Academy Award winner said she “never closed the door” to a discussion about her blacklisting.
“What my husband and I have always said, we're always willing to have conversations, but because it happens so publicly, let's have the conversations publicly. I could be in the wrong, just bring it to my attention. However, don't be cowardly and stay silent,” she said.
“The door is always open. And it's never closed because you never know how people view it, how people see it until you actually sit down and say, ‘Tell me your feelings. Let me tell you mine.’ And then we deal with it,” she continued.
Last November, Mo’Nique called for an open conversation with Perry and Winfrey on the The 85 South Show, pinpointing Perry’s comments that she was difficult to work with. The actress and comedienne said his claims cost her “twelve years” of her career.
Mo’Nique’s calls for an apology were preceded by her comparing Perry to a “monster” while on Outlaws with TS Madison last August.
"I'm not going anywhere until y'all take accountability and fix it. Y'all messed with my livelihood, which messes with my family. Never would I do that to anyone. So, until they fix it, I won't back down,” she said about Perry and Winfrey on the podcast.
