Oscar-winning actress and comedian Mo’Nique has been embroiled in a public feud with Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry for many years now. But in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she is opening up about her feud with Winfrey, and the tense confrontation it resulted in.
According to Mo’Nique’s recollection of what happened, a month after she won her Oscar in 2010 for her supporting role in Precious, Winfrey asked if she could host the actress’s brother on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She said Oprah had called her beforehand to let her know that her “brother had called [Oprah] and he wanted to come on the show to let her know how parents can watch out for predators.”
She continued, “She then said, ‘Do you want to come on the show, because he wants to apologize to you?’ I said, ‘Oprah, I don’t want no part of that.’”
Mo’Niques eldest brother, Gerald Imes, confessed in that episode to sexually abusing her for several years.
Mo’Nique originally gave her blessing, but she did not expect to also see her mother, father, and other brother on the show. While on-air, her other brother, Stephen Imes, downplayed the abuse. “It really isn’t what it looks like. It’s blown out of proportion,” he said.
After the show aired, she said she was not able to get a hold of Oprah. Prior to the show’s taping, they had a “lengthy conversation” about why she and her mother were no longer speaking to each other.
“Then I see the show and I can tell that my mother is trying to make a dollar. I know my family,” she said.
Oprah and Mo’Nique did not see each other again until 2014, when both stars were invited to an Oscars party at Alfre Woodard’s home to honor Lupita Nyong’o, who was nominated that year for 12 Years A Slave. Mo’Nique seized her chance to finally speak to Oprah.
“Oprah Winfrey was sitting on my right. And then I turned to her and said, ‘Now I need to talk to you.’ There were some phenomenal Black women there. You could have heard a pin drop,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Since you didn’t want to return my calls, for whatever reason, I’m going to say this right here.’”
According to Mo’Nique, Oprah claimed that she had only invited her brother who sexually abused her onto the show, but he appeared that day with the rest of her family. Oprah apparently went on to say, “I’m going to look into your mother and father being on the show, because I didn’t know anything about that,” and then said “something like, ‘If I’ve done anything to offend you, I apologize.’”
Mo’Nique has long been very vocal about being “blackballed” in the industry or described as a “difficult” performer by Winfrey, Perry and her long-time collaborator and director Lee Daniels, after the actress refused to participate in promoting Precious at Cannes since Lionsgate would not pay her.
Daniels, so far, is the only person to have issued a public apology to Mo’Nique after their 13-year feud.
Oprah and Perry, on the other hand, have declined to comment publicly about the situation.
If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.
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