Mo’Nique is reflecting on her tense interaction with fellow comedy icon Whoopi Goldberg on The View back in 2018.
In a Monday, March 9, Instagram post, the Oscar winner, 58, said she was “encouraged to send [Goldberg] this open letter” after rewatching their exchange on a February 2018 episode of the ABC daytime talk show.
During her appearance, Mo’Nique discussed how she was deemed difficult to work with after declining to do overseas press for the hit 2009 film Precious, claiming that she had already fulfilled her contractual obligations for the movie and was not offered compensation for the additional work. View cohost Goldberg, 70, appeared to disagree with Mo’Nique’s stance, saying she could have “schooled” her on “what was expected.”
“The tone of the comments today seems different from the energy eight years ago, with many people now agreeing with my sentiments about not working for people or entities I don’t owe anything to,” the comedian wrote. “I wonder, have your feelings changed since that time?”
“I was also intrigued to learn that in 1993 there was an attempt to sue you regarding [the 1995 movie] Theodore Rex because it was alleged that you had made a verbal commitment to the film. Your defense was that you never actually committed,” she continued. “You can imagine how confused I was when I discovered this, especially since when I explained that my only contractual obligation was to [Precious director] Lee Daniels, it didn’t sway your opinion enough to stop you from saying you could have ‘schooled’ me on doing what they expected from me.”
While Mo’Nique won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Precious in 2010, she later alleged that she was “blackballed” in Hollywood following the movie. She claimed during her 2018 appearance on The View that her career declined in part because of Daniels, studio Lionsgate and producers Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey.
“The worst part is that another woman chastised me on a platform meant to empower women,” Mo’Nique continued.
She added, “But what is interesting is hearing you now speak about the importance of standing up for what’s right. My question is: is your stance truly about standing up against wrong, or is it about standing with the ‘right people?’”
“I’ll await your reply about whether you still feel you schooled me correctly,” Mo’Nique continued. “But I caution you: if you admit you were wrong, you know you’d be going against all the ‘right people.’ So, are you willing to do what’s right for the little girls coming behind us, or is your position still ‘F’ the little girl coming behind us? I look forward to finding out. Because I was the little girl coming behind you.”
“HEY MY SISTER @whoopigoldberg I HOPE THIS FINDS YOU WELL. I LOVE US 4REAL,” Mo’Nique captioned the post.
Us Weekly has reached out to Goldberg’s representative for comment.
Mo’Nique and Daniels, 66, appeared to put the past behind them in 2022 when Daniels joined the comedian onstage at a live show and apologized for “hurting you in any way that I did.” Mo’Nique later went on to appear in Daniels’ 2024 movie The Deliverance.
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