I’m not a fan of Steve Harvey. I think he pushes a mainstream version of misogynoir by wrapping it up in family values and family-friendly slut-shaming. That being said, I watched several minutes of Steve’s interview with Mo’Nique and… Steve did his best. He was less wrong than Mo’Nique. For those of you who don’t remember, a decade ago, Mo’Nique was picking up lots of Best Supporting Actress awards for her role in Precious. She was winning those awards without campaigning. I remember it well: everyone agreed that Mo’Nique gave an incredible performance, but when producers asked her to do all of the regular Oscar campaign stuff – attend screenings, Q&A sessions, do interviews and TV appearances – she said no. Even more than that, she said she wouldn’t do any of it without getting paid. She ended up winning the Oscar but losing the war – she was legitimately blackballed in Hollywood and given the “difficult” reputation because she wouldn’t play the game, and because she was so public about not playing the game.
In the years that followed, Mo’Nique has given interviews about how she knows she was largely blackballed from the industry by powerful African-American artists like Oprah, Tyler Perry and Lee Daniels, that those people have refused to speak up for her or give her work. Part of me thinks that Mo’Nique’s initial unwillingness to play the game came from a discomfort on her part, or simply not knowing that 99% of all Oscar nominees are asked to do the same thing. But in the years that followed, I believe that all things are true: Mo’Nique was legitimately blackballed by powerful Hollywood people – many of them African-American – AND she’s a difficult, unprofessional woman with a martyr complex. She doesn’t get that by publicly telling Oprah and Tyler Perry to suck her d–k, of course there will be long-term consequences. I mean, duh. Don’t do that.
Anyway, Mo’Nique and Steve Harvey got into it on his daytime talk show this week. Their conversation is just that – a very civil back-and-forth, no yelling, no tears. It’s very an interesting watch, but I came away from it feeling like Steve was making the better points. Here are the videos:
Photos courtesy of WENN.
What about the part where Steve Harvey says money is more important than someone’s integrity? Just going to leave that out? I thought Steve Harvey did terrible honestly
But he didn’t really say that… She equates “integrity” with calling everyone out. He’s saying “at the end of the day, you and your family have to eat. Learn how to speak and get things done and maybe you can make your point AND still get jobs.”
Listen, every job sucks on some level. You can love your job and dislike some of the things you have to do to maintain that job. Monique was straight up unprofessional in how she addressed what she perceived were these wrongs against her.
If I was expected to do all kinds of work for my job and not get paid, especially if it involves travel…hell yeah I’m speaking up against the people making those demands.
@Bryn, but allegedly that’s done for independent productions all the time. Girl, if I knew there was Oscar buzz about my performance, I’d be at the supermarket talking about it if the boss asked me to.
I always thought Oscar campaigning is financially backed up by the studio (travel and hotel expenses at least, no info about the nominee’s time). But truth be told I only read about Oscar campaigns for big studios, like Disney. It never crossed my mind some actors have to pay for everything themselves if they come from small productions.
Is it about keeping her integrity tho or being unprofessional? Serious question. I am not to informed on this topic but she telling people to suck her dick cannot help her situation
Didnt the suck my d!ck comment happen years after she was already blackballed though
That’s fine but it doesn’t go both ways, if you say that you are going to choose your integrity over the 100 million then you can’t be mad later that you didn’t get the 100 million. Sounds like mo’nique wants to have her cake and eat it too.
Oh my gah – this! People are like “she knew her worth.” Okay, now her worth is zero, because no one will hire her on the scale she wants to be hired. You got your integrity; why are you whining about being blacklisted then? You said it was either or; you got “or.”
The root cause of this WHOLE THING…ever since “Precious” is that Mo’Nique decided to NOT let ANYONE tell her what HER worth is….
Steve Harvey has ALWAYS been a backbiting, succubus, moneywhore, misogynistic creep…who is hosting a television show…that he won’t even HAVE in a few weeks, because even though he will bow and scrape and steal and backstab to for that all mighty dollar…the Powers that be STILL SHANKED his trifling ass and pulled the rug from under him when they took his television spots and wrapped them up in a nice bow and presented them to Kelly Clarkson for her new talk show…
And that’s ALL Mo is saying…keep your integrity….because even if you DO bow and scrape and do any and everything for that all might dollar and fame…the powers that be can and WILL still take it away….
Yes…all of this. I was really surprised that none of that was mentioned, every other site reporting about this interview are blasting Steve Harvey for being a piece of sh!t. Mo was under paid and expected to do all the press with no pay, and speaking out against the ones treating her wrong makes her wrong? I’m so confused
I love all of your posts, Lala. 🙂
BUT, Steve can walk away now and never have to work again; Mo exploded every bridge. Your worth is based on what you bring to the table. You can’t expect to do nothing for 10 years and then come back and command millions of dollars. I know it’s not her fault she wasn’t getting jobs, but you’re only as big as your last hit/ Amy Schumer was huge when she did her Netflix special; she can’t compare to Amy. Chappelle had been doing wildly popular underground shows for years after the Chappelle Show. Netflix knew they had throw money at him to do something formal. She can’t compare to that. She’s talking apples and oranges. She should have bitten her tongue, kicked ass in the Netflix special for $500,000 and left people clamoring for more. THEN she could’ve commanded more for the next one. And she would left people with “damn, Mo is funny; why isn’t she in more things?”
First of all…the lifestyle that Steve Harvey has…AND THAT EGO…no he can not walk away and never work again…and no…Mo’Nique didn’t burn every bridge…if Mo EVER needs to make money…she can go right out and make money the way she always has…on stage…or on the screen, like she did recently in HBO’s telepic “Bessie”…where she made you forget Queen Latifah was on the screen…Mo has talent and has ALWAYS worked and she doesn’t live an extravagant lifestyle…and she doesn’t have to take Netflix’s money if she doesn’t feel that they were offering her what she was worth…Mo…STAYS making money…but she knows like I know…”all money ain’t good money”….And when it comes to DOLLARS…yes Mo CAN compare herself to Amy Schumer…and she provided the RECEIPTS to validate her stance…folks are too used to seeing EVERYBODY do “anythang funny…for a little money”…
How did she compare to Amy Schumer at that time? How, Sway? Amy was fresh off one of her biggest hits. And she cannot compare to Chappelle. Chappelle has cult following. No one (except Black folks, not that many at that) were/are checking for Mo’Nique. Yes, she has talent. But she has attitude to go with it. At the end of the day, no one wants to put up with what she was dishing out. Hence why she’s complaining about being blacklisted.
Steve Harvey CAN walk away and not work. The man has put in time. He had like 3 shows going at one time. Whether he WILL is another story. You’re right that his ego won’t let him.
Also, Mo’nique is not the only nominee not to do the free press circuit leading up to awards. Plenty of white male actors shun it all the time. The one who comes to mind is Sean Penn. Now we all know he’s a-hole who doesn’t ‘play the game’ and yet no one is blackballing him. I don’t think she’s wrong that there’s a double standard because she’s a Black woman.
Yeah, you are right @Jamie. Everything in the world that goes wrong for her is because other people are racists. It has nothing to do with her attitude.
When’s the last time Sean Penn had a big project or worked with an A list director? People will entertain obnoxious,bad behavior when you have the box office to back it up.He’s no longer box office, so no projects, she was NEVER box office and thought she could act like she was. also, NEVER bite the hand that fed you, ask Kathryn Hiegel how that worked out for her.
Thank you @Lala11 you are 100 percent right.
I don’t consider it blackballing to decide not to work with someone who tells you to suck their d*ck. Sorry but that kind of attitude to your potential boss is moronic.
Well to be fair, I believe Mo made that comment several years *after* she had already been blackballed.
I suppose it didn’t help matters though, if she was trying to make a comeback.
It seems to me that Mo’s husband, Sidney, led her astray. She replaced her whole team with that one man, who really had no experience at the level she was reaching. Sometimes the people we love most sabotage our growth.
How did her husband lead her astray? To me he provided her with the solid foundation so that she can stand up for herself and fight for what she deserves…and what she wants for herself…She don’t want no one low-balling her…it’s as simple as that
You can’t have one oscar hit and think you can command the world. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. Sure, he told her to demand more … and she got nothing. She’s booked to talk about how she got … nothing. There’s a reason people hire professionals. I won’t go to a sanitation worker to do my taxes. Come on!
I have to disagree here Celebitchy… he literally said in the conversation that money is most important over integrity, constantly interrupted Mo, and made it all about him as he usually does, all with a live-audience applause to make sure she never got to make one point.
I think there’s something wrong with Steve Harvey. For years, my abuser radar has been pinging with him and it hasn’t been wrong yet. I don’t know details about who, what, and why – but he’s doing something wrong somewhere to someone. I don’t think it’s just because of his giant ego and misogyny that I get this feeling.
I don’t know why edetails or context, but in these videos she comes across as dignified and graceful. Sick of people telling WOC to discount their own worth, to keep other people happy.
Genuinely disappointed that Lee Daniels and Oprah would have a hand in blackballing a talented black woman. Not working with her is one thing, but actively bad mouthing (which it sounds like all these lot, including Harvey) have bee doing, that’s not ok.
Mo’Nique keep speaking truth to powers and standing up for your rights.
Ok now….this started because she wanted to get paid for all promotion for Precious, and at that time, (not sure about now) actors didn’t get paid for promotion. Now, this is not her first rodeo, and because her husband, who has no experience in negotiations, didn’t negotiate this from the outset, and then decided to do this after Precious started winning awards basically pissed everyone off in a five mile radius. Instead of doing promotion for sites that mattered like Cannes Film Fest & Toronto Film fest, they decided to do the ones that were close to home and of no consequence because of “her children”. Which was bull because they just wanted to boycott since she’s been nominated for an Oscar at that point. Then it was because no one would lend her gowns because she was plus size at the time…and it went on, and on and on.
If you know you want certain things regarding promotion you negotiate that out the outset-period. She and her husband thought because she was nominated for an Oscar she could do what she wanted and she was wrong. It’s not because she’s black (I’m black mkay), it’s not because she’s a woman, it’s because neither she or her husband correctly assessed their position and did not go about getting what she wanted in a business like fashion. Had she done this at the outset, she would have gotten it. Either Oprah or Tyler would have made the arrangements. (they tried to help at the time and Monique refused) But they went about it like spoiled children, so all the other professionals walked away. Everyone knows Lee Daniels it triflin-but where this is concerned I don’t blame him. If your movie is winning awards left and right, and the main actor decides not to do promotion doing that time, I’m not working with you after that. He has that right. And for Monique to complain about not getting the role in Empire after that shows how completely unaware she is. This is her fault. All of it.
First of all…”Precious” was a small indie film…which is why folks worked for minimum and there was no negotiations regarding promotion…etc…the minute “Precious” blew up and started become an Oscar darling…then that fact should have been taken into consideration regarding expenses…etc…and if folks can’t understand that…I don’t understand folks….
Oprah offered to pay for her trip to Cannes Film fest and Monique refused. That’s what I don’t understand. If you’re going to do something new than do the new thing and negotiate from the beginning. Because of her shortsightedness and his inexperience they didn’t bring it up and they could have. The reason actors get paid on the back end now is because Cary Grant negotiated it into one of his contracts because he wanted to do a movie that didn’t pay much but if it was a hit, he wanted a piece. Same principle, small salary, but if it’s a hit, here’s what I’d like. Precious being an indie film has nothing to do with it. It has to do with negotiation and business skills. And instead of taking the lesson and implementing in in her next contract, she decided to drag anyone who would employ her in public until this day. Not smart.
Former actress here. And regardless of whether it’s an indie film or not – you still have to sign a contract and you still negotiate. She could have asked for back end profits – which is what every other actor who works on a small budget film does. Promotion has ALWAYS been a part of the job. If the issue was the expense – Oprah offered to PAY for her trip to Cannes. And Monique said no! Because Oprah wouldn’t pay for her whole damn family to go as well. I’m not a Steve Harvey fan by any stretch – he’s a misogynist A-hole. But he wasnt wrong about this. Monique keeps biting the hands that feed her and then whining about how they refuse to feed her anymore. To PUBLICLY disrespect people like Oprah and then be surprised that doesn’t work out in your favor? I say to Monique…girl, bye.
@VV thanks for your perspective.
I remember when that all went down about her wanting to be paid during the Oscar campaign. I was thinking the same thing as being part of the job, etc. It was not as if others were being paid. There is no doubt in my mind she’s had a difficult time and she’s been blackballed. But I also believe she’s difficult and comes across as entitled. There’s nothing wrong with knowing your worth but there are more professional ways to go about it. And just because you are black (black woman here) doesn’t automatically mean that the Oprahs and Tyler Perrys should automatically hire you and put up with your bulls@t if you are behaving in a way that’s deemed unprofessional.
The whole Netflix thing drove me crazy. Instead of using it as an opportunity to bring attention to gender pay disparity she was telling everyone to boycott Netflix. Wanda Sykes responded to her by thanking her for speaking out and that Wanda was offered even less than what she was offered. Wanda said basically she was insulted and decided to take her business elsewhere.
Then after the Netflix thing she proceeded to lash out publicly which didn’t help her.
I think, because of the success of Precious, that many forget Lee Daniels films up to that point didn’t do that well. He always had actors with names. Like Shadowboxer had Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr (Monique was also in it); but it was a small movie that went largely unnoticed. Monique worked with Daniels, and took low pay to help a black filmmaker out… is she completely in the right about everything… no; but I’m sure more could’ve been done and there was no need to blackball her
No one gets paid for press. The studio/distributor will comp travel, pay for stylists, etc, but they do not pay you a fee or salary to do press. Mo’Nique was expecting to be paid to do the Q&A and glad-handing circuit everyone does and no one gets paid for. I don’t think she’s been treated entirely fairly in the years since, but I also think she was out of line expecting payment to do press, because again, no one gets paid for that. The payment is the Oscar you win, which allows you to raise your asking rate after the fact.
I’m not a fan of Steve AT ALL,but I like that’s he’s been one of the few who’ve stood up to her & basically said what we’ve all been thinking.I do however feel a lil bad for Mo’nique cause clearly she’s hurt & needs to deal with that & stop publically lashing out.She is a talented women,cause her old stand up routines are Pure Gold & I did love her in The Parker’s.
No everyone has NOT been thinking that….Not in the LEAST!
Of course he did. Steve has a long history of hating women, and enjoying feeling superior. This was probably a real treat for him.
She is a perpetual victim. Everyone’s fault but her own.
She wasn’t blackballed because of Precious. Precious was released in 2009 at the same time she had her talk show on BET for 2 season which she was fired from. It was said she is very difficult to work with. She plays the victim so well, I guess Oprah & Tyler got that canceled. Also they were going to pay for her trip to Cannes but she wanted them to pay for her family as well.
If you are difficult to work with and take no responsibility for your own actions, no one wants to hire you Mo.
Actually it’s Monique herself that says she was blackballed because of Precious so, I’m guessing that both of these events had an influence on her current state
I can’t watch. I don’t care for either of them. Finessing integrity doesn’t include dick-sucking declarations. Shit-stirring professions speak for themselves. Those two are sides of the same coin.
My senior year of university I had to write my thesis and it took a lot out of me. I ended up writing one of the top 8 theses in my class and was asked by my professor to critique another students paper for the end of the year banquet/awards ceremony. I knew that if I told her no it would probably sour our relationship and I was advised to do it, but at the time I was burnt out and just wanted to graduate. I didn’t want to devote extra time to reading and critiquing and presenting on a paper when it would ultimately have no effect on my grade and I still had other classes to finish. A few months later I emailed that professor for a letter of recommendation and she didn’t even reply. Mind you that I previously had a good academic relationship with her and I had one of top theses in my graduating class. I feel like mo’niques situation is very similar. She had good reason to say no and wasn’t wrong for saying it, but when you tell people in positions of power over you no there’s the risk that they’ll hold it against you. Lucky for me I had other professors agree to write me recommendations. Unfortunately for Mo’nique she told multiple powerful people to suck her “private parts” as Steve put it.
These two need to look up the word integrity
I think it’s much, much easier for a woman, especially a non-white woman, to be labeled “difficult”, and I do think she was right to stand up for herself with the Netflix issue. I’m flabbergasted at how little they offered her, and Wanda Sykes, in comparison to some of the other comedians.
But I never felt like she handled the Oscar campaign stuff well. That was her opportunity to build her profile and get more power in her career, regardless of whether the studio or whoever did right by her or not, but I think she shot herself in the foot there.
Steve Harvey has always given me bad vibes.
I would agree if others in that industry weren’t expected to do the same. ‘unpaid’ work like many of us did unpaid internships were to get your foot in the door get experience to get higher paying jobs, etc. Monique would’ve gotten more press then more offers and in the end more money by doing these types of things. I’ve heard of actors in the middle of filming another project be given a break by that production, rescheduling them entirely for weeks because they want them doing promotion for the film they’re nominated for because when that’s complete and they go back to finishing this other project they will have ‘oscar nominee’ in the trailer. They want the actors to be more famous, critically acclaimed, so now they’ll get more than they originally paid for. No one will see your movie if you don’t advertise for it. Not sure why Monique thinks she’s above this. The industry creates awards season as one big ad, ‘look at what our industry has to offer. This is the best of the best this year.’ As for money, I understand waiting to get more money down the road as we all have put up with crappy low paying jobs knowing we deserve better so we apply for other jobs, ask for recommendations, etc. actors have lots of irons in the fire, overseas foreign ads for clothing lines, watches, etc. I agree this industry seems to be catered to the rich who as Julia louis-dreyfus admitted,’ I’ll only work if I love it’ well she’s in that position because she comes from an incredibly wealthy family. Leo dicaprio, Robert deniro and others were paid a huge amount by a foreign resort to work one day on an ad-they were in that position because of the careers they’ve created for themselves. Cameron diaz earned millions working just 4 hours on the first Shrek movie recording her voice, she was in that position because of the success and fame she’d already earned. I don’t feel like Monique has a leg to stand on here
Monique has said that she had done all the promotion she was contracted to do for the movie “Precious” and then Oprah and Lee Daniels called her up and asked her to do more promotiion for free. She also said she was spending some needed time with her family and that’s why she said no. However, she then asked for an extra 50,000 to do more promotion. That was her mistake. It made her look bad and it made it easier to blame her. If she hadn’t done that, I think most people would have agreed that she had a right to turn them down in order to be with her family.
Regarding the Netflix dispute. I think in the Future people are going to look back and say she was ahead of her time. She’s right.
Team no one! Two jerks don’t make it right.
Honestly, it’s probably something of both. She was likely recalcitrant on certain issues that hurt her reputation with the field, whether justified or otherwise, but I find it impossible to believe her race and sex didn’t play a role in getting her blackballed. Women get punished all the time for demanding their time and talent be validated with pay, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the industry is purposefully structured to take advantage of that natural imbalance to begin with. Regardless, it’s very telling how hierarchical Hollywood is that even highly talented actresses with Oscar nominated value can get locked out that quickly over a misstep – particularly since there are plenty of villains running around with far worse. This “eat shit and be underpaid” attitude is very much a centerpiece of modern American capitalism that benefits the wealthy most of all.
I really don’t think I can put myself through another Steve Harvey interview. That being said, Monique needs better management and the fact that she’s on Steve Harvey’s show is proof of that. That and the entire phone call leaking/video fiasco over Netflix (where she should have been paid more and probably could have gotten it with stronger management) just shows that she’s not being properly managed at all.
Do I think she was blackballed? Yes and no. I think that the Precious PR mess left a sour taste in a lot of people’s mouths, but it just seems like she also squandered her time in the spotlight by skipping the oscar season. Even in locked races, the also-rans manage to shake every hand and give every interview just to increase their stock and make deals. Ann Dowd went as far as sending out her own screener when the studio couldn’t pay for them. You have to advertise your brand and get yourself in the room. Contrary to popular opinion, winning the Oscar just doesn’t do that.
Lastly, I think Monique is a talented comedian and actress, but not all careers take off after an Oscar win or nomination. We are 10 years past her win. The only way she’s getting back in is if she finances a movie about a washed up female comedian struggling with alcoholism. That prestige movie door seems closed now and idk what her ask is for other films. If it’s as high as it was post Oscar win, then I don’t think anyone is willing to pay it.
It’s a tough business and unfortunately there’s always someone new coming up after you.
unpaid internships, unpaid promotion “everbody does it”… yeah, and it works out best for the rich white people who can afford it.
she should have gotten paid that extra $50,000 to keep promoting the film. as a black woman, especially one who isn’t halle berry, that whole “it will pay off in the next deal” thing is bogus. get paid what you are worth.
oprah, tyler perry, lee daniels and steve harvey are lickspittling weasels who would rather hang a sister out to dry for demanding her worth be recognized than risk upsetting the white man.