The 'Lee Daniels' The Butler' director confirms that Mo'Nique's relationship with the Hollywood community has soured after 'Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire'.
- Feb 21, 2015
AceShowbiz - Lee Daniels speaks up following Mo'Nique's statement in which she addressed criticisms over her "Precious: Based on the Novel PUSH by Sapphire" role and discussed life after Oscars. In a rather revealing interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the actress said she discovered from the director that there was a Hollywood conspiracy against her. In response, he seemed to confirm that she indeed had been blacklisted after her big win.
"Mo'nique is a creative force to be reckoned with," the director said. "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."
"What I understood was that when I won that Oscar, things would change in all the ways you're saying: It should come with more respect, more choices and more money. It should, and it normally does," Mo'Nique said to THR. "I got a phone call from Lee Daniels maybe six or seven months ago. And he said to me, '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 [actor and producer Sidney Hicks] and I had to change things so we wouldn't have to depend on [others]. So we do it independently. We're very proud of taking the independent route, and we have a movie coming out on April 24 called 'Blackbird'."
Many referred the "game" in question to the 2010 Oscar campaign which Mo'Nique refused to be a part of and got criticized. The actress herself had this to say when asked if she knew what Daniels meant, "You know what I learned? Never to think what somebody else was thinking."
She added, "That's a question you would have to ask Lee Daniels. There have been people that have said, 'Mo'Nique, she can be difficult. Mo'Nique and her husband can be difficult.' They could probably be right. One of the networks said to [Lee] that I was 'really difficult to work with.' And I said, 'Well, that's funny, because I've never even worked with them, but OK.' "
"Whoever those people are who say, 'Mo'Nique is difficult,' those people are either heartless, ruthless or treat people like they're worthless. And that's unacceptable. They're set to say, 'Mo'Nique is tactless, she's tacky.' That's why I have my beautiful husband, because he's so full of tact, 'cause I'm a girl from Baltimore. I come from a blue-collar town - and being from that place, you learn not to let anybody take advantage of you. You don't let people mistreat you. You stand up for what's right."
"So I can't answer why he said I was blackballed. There may be people that feel that way about me. But I respect everyone, from the homeless brother and sister on the street to the executive that sits in the highest office named President Barack Obama. I respect everyone - but we over-respect no one."
After her big night at the Academy Awards, Mo'Nique actually had received offers to star in "Lee Daniels' The Butler", "Empire", and an upcoming Richard Pryor biopic. However, "Each of those things that he [Daniels] offered me was taken off the table. (Laughs.) They all just went away," the actress opened up. "But that's just part of the business, you know? I can't be upset at anybody, 'cause life is too good. It's just what it is."
Mo'Nique has gone indie after being sidelined in the Hollywood mainstream industry.
