Oscar Winner Mo'Nique Confronts Alleged Blacklisting
— -- Mo’Nique is setting the record straight. The comedian and Oscar-winning actress is saying her blunt acceptance speech for her 2010 supporting actress win branded her to some as a less than gracious winner.
“I would like to thank the academy for showing it can be about the performance and not the politics,” she said in her acceptance speech at the time.
Now, she’s speaking out about what’s happened since.
“People were saying, ‘Someone needs to teach Mo’Nique a lesson, because she’s not playing the game,'” she said on “Good Morning America." “And she’s gonna get in her own way of winning this award, because it seems like she's choosing her family over Hollywood.”
The 47-year-old mom of four said her choice to spend her free time with her family instead of campaigning for her 2009 film “Precious” may also have shaped her reputation with some, but she said it didn’t hurt her Hollywood career.
“I don’t think that Hollywood has turned its nose up to me. I think that those are feelings that Mr. Daniels is having,” she said.
That would be Lee Daniels, the critically-acclaimed director of “Precious” who on CNN Tonight said Mo'Nique proved to be difficult, making unreasonable demands that he said left her blackballed in Hollywood.
“You gotta play ball. This is not just show, it’s show business, and you gotta play ball,” Daniels said on the show.
Mo’Nique attributes his comments to Daniels having a problem that she didn’t thank him in her acceptance speech.
“He said, ‘You know, there were things that, Mo'Nique, she didn’t thank the producers and she didn’t thank the studio. And that’s just not things that you do,’” she recounted. “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 Oscars awards.”
Despite their differences, Mo’Nique doesn’t think the situation negatively affected her standing in Hollywood.
“I appreciate that comment, because he's absolutely right. It is show business. A game does have to be played,” she responded. “But why can’t we play the fair game? If you’re asking, 'Am I willing to put my integrity on the line for Hollywood?’ No.”
According to Mo’Nique, her strategy has paid off.
“Hollywood is a small community. [Scripts and calls] never stopped coming,” she said. “It was just the offers that didn’t make sense.”
Though her career may not have seen the huge financial benefits of an Oscar, Mo’Nique said she is doing well with a sold out comedy tour and her latest film “Blackbird” hitting theaters next month.
“Please, don’t feel bad or sorry for Mo’Nique, because Mo’Nique doesn't feel bad or sorry for Mo’Nique,” she said with a laugh. “You would be wasting your energy."
