Lee Daniels Says Mo'Nique's 'Precious' Demands "Soured Her Relationship With Hollywood
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Five years ago Mo'Nique won Best Supporting Actress for "Precious," marking one of only two Oscars the indie movie won out of five nominations, and naturally you might think that only bigger and brighter things were ahead. But she hasn't hasn't had a movie role since, except for a part in the upcoming indie "Blackbird." So what gives? According to the actress, the industry shut her out.
"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. Hattie [McDaniel] said, 'After I won that award, it was as if I had done something wrong.' It was the same with me. I thought, once you won the award, that's the top prize — and so you're supposed to be treated as if you got the top prize," she told The Hollywood Reporter.
"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."
For some context, during the run-up for the Oscars in 2010, Mo'Nique came under fire from some quarters for not doing enough press for the film, and even reportedly asking for money to do promotion. “...it’s like, guys, I also have this show called ‘The Mo’Nique Show’ where I tape six shows a week. I have twins who are 4, so I have babies, I have an amazing husband and a son who’s 19. What I can participate in I’m more than happy to,” she told The New York Times five years ago.
But in response to THR's article this week, Lee Daniels did release a statement to them clarifying what he meant. “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," the filmmaker said. "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.”
Indeeed, Mo'Nique reveals he did reach out to her since for roles, but nothing came of it. "I was offered the role in 'The Butler' that Oprah Winfrey played. I was also approached by 'Empire' to be on 'Empire.' And I was also offered the role as Richard Pryor's grandmother in [Daniels' upcoming Pryor biopic]. Each of those things that he offered me was taken off the table. (Laughs.) They all just went away. 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," the actress said.
Certainly a lot and mull over and clearly there is a disconnect between Mo'Nique and the industry around her. Let us know what you think below.
Comments
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Monique has money
She lost weight
She got Kids
A family
? settling and kissing ass for menial roles.
The black folks Always ? wit Mo'Monique, so she'll aleays be good..
? a black balled. -
So the role was good enough to Oprah but not her? I think Lee might be full of ? . Something else going on here
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Part of being an actor is doing press for the films you're in. That's not asking too much or to kiss ass to ask somebody to promote a movie they are part of.
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Damn that's wild, it's rare you get such transparency when it comes to blackballing someone.
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Part of being an actor is doing press for the films you're in. That's not asking too much or to kiss ass to ask somebody to promote a movie they are part of.
Is it though?
Didn't Kevin hart just go through something similar. If promoting was part of the actors job it should b in the contract and they shouldn't b asking for extra money
what I think is these actors r only getting paid for their roles and the studio assumes actors will promote free of charge.
Monique didn't get paid and doesn't know the game which seems to mean do a little extra for the studios free of charge and they'll look out for u in future rolls.
Anyway ? need to understand Hollywood is for cacs. U can succeed in it but until u reach will, tyler, and denzels level, u r at the mercy of them cacs whims. -
The press junkets and ? I'd in the contracts. Kevin Hart was upset about the studio thinking that he was gonna promote the movies on his personal social media.
I don't wanna get too off topic, but I was torn on the matter. One hand they do spend millions on advertising why not kick a separate payment for the actor if he going beyond his obligations.
On the other hand if you can help the movie you in to do well and all you gotta do is post a picture saying "go see this, on this date" underneath it or tweet some ? . That would be in your best interest even if you already been paid. Going forward that helps in what you can demand in future films.
Titangraph over -
Part of being an actor is doing press for the films you're in. That's not asking too much or to kiss ass to ask somebody to promote a movie they are part of.
Is it though?
Didn't Kevin hart just go through something similar. If promoting was part of the actors job it should b in the contract and they shouldn't b asking for extra money
what I think is these actors r only getting paid for their roles and the studio assumes actors will promote free of charge.
Monique didn't get paid and doesn't know the game which seems to mean do a little extra for the studios free of charge and they'll look out for u in future rolls.
Anyway ? need to understand Hollywood is for cacs. U can succeed in it but until u reach will, tyler, and denzels level, u r at the mercy of them cacs whims.
Nah.....Kevin asked to be paid because they wanted him to use his personal social media accounts to promote the movies -
Part of being an actor is doing press for the films you're in. That's not asking too much or to kiss ass to ask somebody to promote a movie they are part of.
Is it though?
Didn't Kevin hart just go through something similar. If promoting was part of the actors job it should b in the contract and they shouldn't b asking for extra money
what I think is these actors r only getting paid for their roles and the studio assumes actors will promote free of charge.
Monique didn't get paid and doesn't know the game which seems to mean do a little extra for the studios free of charge and they'll look out for u in future rolls.
Anyway ? need to understand Hollywood is for cacs. U can succeed in it but until u reach will, tyler, and denzels level, u r at the mercy of them cacs whims.
It is in most contracts to do promotional work...Kevin Hart just wanted extra money to do extra promotion on his Twitter page. It don't matter if you work for a black studio or white studio...you gotta promote the film. Working for a black studio won't mean they're going to let you off on not going out to promote the movie you're apart of. -
Lol I always thought she was a wack actress still do maybe that's why she's getting minor roles
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For some context, during the run-up for the Oscars in 2010, Mo'Nique came under fire from some quarters for not doing enough press for the film, and even reportedly asking for money to do promotion. “...it’s like, guys, I also have this show called ‘The Mo’Nique Show’ where I tape six shows a week. I have twins who are 4, so I have babies, I have an amazing husband and a son who’s 19. What I can participate in I’m more than happy to,” she told The New York Times five years ago.
1st n foremost, "playing the game" aint got ? to do with no press. N promotion...
So ya can ? that..
Hence Lee Daniel copping pleas.But in response to THR's article this week, Lee Daniels did release a statement to them clarifying what he meant. “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," the filmmaker said. "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.”
All this Lee Daniel quote means is that i should of kept my mouth shut .. -
? hollywood
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i think some people misunderstand...kissing ass and adding money to your pocket.
as an actor i would promote.
as a rapper i would promote.
i am trying to eat...its not like you was asked to be a ? .
kevin hart...had plenty of movies already coming out...lets see how that goes after they are released?
and from what i remember..i heard him promoting a few of his movies. -
Monique can get it
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why wouldnt you want to promote the movie your in.
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Lee Daniels was right.
However, it's not just a matter of her not playing the game.
It's more about her not understanding the game and, as a result, not knowing how to play it.
Don't understand the problem with helping promote a film you're in.
The more successful the film.....the higher the profile you get as an actor/actress.
She's looking at it as if she should be paid for promotion, but she doesn't seem to understand the big picture in terms of how that could help her get future roles and increase her value as an actress.
I wouldn't want to work with her either if I was the head of a film studio or production company.
If I'm not mistaken, Lee Daniels is black.....and he doesn't wanna work with her either.
Probably because the higher-ups are telling him that they're not gonna spend money on someone who won't help promote the film. -
THIRDSUPREME wrote: »Monique has money
She lost weight
She got Kids
A family
? settling and kissing ass for menial roles.
The black folks Always ? wit Mo'Monique, so she'll aleays be good..
? a black balled.
She should put together a stand up comedy tour..
Build up interest in herself and make Hollywood come to her..
She already have a strong following,
her comedy tour would sell out,
and she could release the comedy tour dvd..
? sitting around waiting on Hollywood to give you work.. -
pissedoffnobody wrote: »
Oprah's learned the game and helped rewrite the playbook a bit, Mo'Nique wasn't looking to kiss ass to work, she knew her value and didn't want to get out of bed to sell herself or her talent unless she was getting paid. The industry is a lot smaller than it was 10-15 years ago and you need to eat ? on half mill deals with options a lot more, the days of guaranteed 20 million dollar checks for stars who aren't kicking in as producers is over. So I get what has happened here, acting was an interest she got an opportunity to do but it isn't her passion, she's not going to go through some ? if they ask her but then want her to jump through hoops and parlay with the producers and go on worldwide media press junket tours when she'd rather be with her family.A$AP_A$TON wrote: »So the role was good enough to Oprah but not her? I think Lee might be full of ? . Something else going on here
Would any of this have mattered if she was a white blond woman? -
Part of being an actor is doing press for the films you're in. That's not asking too much or to kiss ass to ask somebody to promote a movie they are part of.
Is it though?
Didn't Kevin hart just go through something similar. If promoting was part of the actors job it should b in the contract and they shouldn't b asking for extra money
what I think is these actors r only getting paid for their roles and the studio assumes actors will promote free of charge.
Monique didn't get paid and doesn't know the game which seems to mean do a little extra for the studios free of charge and they'll look out for u in future rolls.
Anyway ? need to understand Hollywood is for cacs. U can succeed in it but until u reach will, tyler, and denzels level, u r at the mercy of them cacs whims.
Kevin Hart didn't have problems promoting the movies he played in,
his issue was that they wanted him to use his personal twitter account
to promote an up coming movie and he felt since that's "HIS PERSONAL" twitter account,
if they want to use it, then they should pay him..
Keep in mind that Kevin Hart has over 16 million twitter followers,
so every time he post, his tweets go out to over 16 million people,
that's a LOT of promo..
He right for charging them for that.. -
Lee Daniels seems like a ? ? day by day with his ? agenda and shady ways.... Next thing you know he's gonna ditch black movies completely watch
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J.J._Evans wrote: »pissedoffnobody wrote: »
Oprah's learned the game and helped rewrite the playbook a bit, Mo'Nique wasn't looking to kiss ass to work, she knew her value and didn't want to get out of bed to sell herself or her talent unless she was getting paid. The industry is a lot smaller than it was 10-15 years ago and you need to eat ? on half mill deals with options a lot more, the days of guaranteed 20 million dollar checks for stars who aren't kicking in as producers is over. So I get what has happened here, acting was an interest she got an opportunity to do but it isn't her passion, she's not going to go through some ? if they ask her but then want her to jump through hoops and parlay with the producers and go on worldwide media press junket tours when she'd rather be with her family.A$AP_A$TON wrote: »So the role was good enough to Oprah but not her? I think Lee might be full of ? . Something else going on here
Would any of this have mattered if she was a white blond woman?
Yes look at Katherine Heigl. Everyone wanted her for a movie but she's a pain in the ass to work with and now she doesn't do much movies -
J.J._Evans wrote: »pissedoffnobody wrote: »
Oprah's learned the game and helped rewrite the playbook a bit, Mo'Nique wasn't looking to kiss ass to work, she knew her value and didn't want to get out of bed to sell herself or her talent unless she was getting paid. The industry is a lot smaller than it was 10-15 years ago and you need to eat ? on half mill deals with options a lot more, the days of guaranteed 20 million dollar checks for stars who aren't kicking in as producers is over. So I get what has happened here, acting was an interest she got an opportunity to do but it isn't her passion, she's not going to go through some ? if they ask her but then want her to jump through hoops and parlay with the producers and go on worldwide media press junket tours when she'd rather be with her family.A$AP_A$TON wrote: »So the role was good enough to Oprah but not her? I think Lee might be full of ? . Something else going on here
Would any of this have mattered if she was a white blond woman?
Yes look at Katherine Heigl. Everyone wanted her for a movie but she's a pain in the ass to work with and now she doesn't do much movies
Her situation may have more to do with her Mormon faith.
Considering that most winners are white, finding a couple that were blackballed is not comparable to the rare black woman that wins and is then blackballed.
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cannonspike1994 wrote: »why wouldnt you want to promote the movie your in.
Yea I don't understand why that is an issue. "Oh you want me to leave my family for weeks at a time and travel all around the world being asked the same questions about this movie? Ok"
"You want me to pull my phone out and tweet go see this movie? ? no!!" -
A$AP_A$TON wrote: »cannonspike1994 wrote: »why wouldnt you want to promote the movie your in.
Yea I don't understand why that is an issue. "Oh you want me to leave my family for weeks at a time and travel all around the world being asked the same questions about this movie? Ok"
"You want me to pull my phone out and tweet go see this movie? ? no!!"
More than likely it's because they know white actors/actresses are being paid for it.
Our brothers & sisters in music, movies, etc....are dealing with racism also. Just look at the nominees in the crowd at the Grammys & Oscars.
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Hmmm sound like she gotta attitude problem...
Who wouldn't want to promote a movie that you put an Oscar worthy performance into?
Knew she did a helluva job and got all diva like... -
Monique began to lose her following since she lost weight.
she built her brand on being big an loving it.
then she lost weight.
