Recently Mo’Nique interviewed with the Hollywood Reporter, where she revealed that after her Oscar win for Precious in 2010, Hollywood blackballed her.
“I got a phone call from Lee Daniels. He said to me, ‘Mo’Nique, you’ve been blackballed, I said, ‘Why?’ And he said, ‘Because you didn’t play the game’.”
And it is true we haven’t seen much of her since her iconic role, which is weird because normally after such a big win the actress’ career should have catapulted, Gabourey Sidibe’s sure did!
Well Lee Daniels was the director for “Precious”, recently interviewed with CNN’s Don Lemon to clear up what was said and explain why it happened.
“I didn’t exactly say that, we were on the campaign, she was making unreasonable demands, and I remember thinking ‘this is when reverse racism happens’. You have to thank the producers of the film
He goes on to say that he believes the demands that she made while on the “Precious” campaign is what really hurt her.
Don Lemon asked is there anyway she should could make a come back into the industry and he responded by saying, “You’ve gotta play ball. This is not just show, it is show business and you gotta play ball. I don’t like calling the race card, I don’t believe in it because if I buy into it then it becomes real. If I knew what I knew when I was 21, I would not be where I’m at right now.”
Of course Lemon wasted no time to make a controversial point, saying that Daniel’s views would categorize him as a sellout, and his response was priceless!:
“I guess I’m a sell out then! Call it what it is. I am not going to not work, I am not going to not tell my truth and I’m not going to not call people out on their bull! Whatever that means sell out… I’ll see you in the theaters!”
The rest of his interview, touched on how his life in some ways influenced the script of “Empire” and it was truly touching, check out the rest of the interview below and let’s chat!
SOURCES SITED: BOSSIP
TSR STAFF: DEBRA OH!! @THE_EBONY_ISSUE ON INSTAGRAM AND @TSR_EBONY_ISSUE ON TWITTER!!
