Photo by Eric McCandless and Paras Griffin/Getty
Mo’Nique has seemingly reignited her feud with her “brother” Steve Harvey, five years after their tense conversation on ‘The Steve Harvey Show.’
The comedian and actress was recently interviewed by The Root, where she was asked to share her thoughts about Katt Williams — specifically, his viral interview on Shannen Sharpe‘s ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast.
As fans will recall, the ‘Pimp Chronicles’ star made comments about Harvey allegedly stealing jokes from fellow comedian Mark Curry.
While Mo’Nique opted not to speak on the matter, she was more than open to discussing her own share of issues with the West Virginia native.
According to the ‘Blackbird’ actress, the tension between them started when Mo’Nique appeared on Harvey’s talk show in 2019, per PEOPLE.
“When Steve Harvey sat on that show, and he said, ‘Mo, your husband can’t be out here flexing like he do. He can’t be who he is when he come out here.’ Let me tell you what that meant,” she said.
Previously, Mo’Nique and her husband and manager, Sidney Hicks, had been in talks to front her own show with the same producers behind Harvey’s talk show.
But things took a left turn when their discussion swiftly changed to producers allegedly revealing details about Harvey’s pay.
That’s when Hicks interrupted the producers.
“My husband said, ‘Number one, my wife considers that man her brother, and number two, he’s my frat brother, and we don’t play like that,'” Mo’Nique recalled. “‘Please don’t share that man’s business with us because if you share his business with us, you’ll share our business with someone else.'”
Producers reportedly revealed Mo’Nique and Hicks’ statements to Harvey. However, he allegedly brushed it off as no big deal, telling his producers, “Man, sometimes my frat brothers can be a little fanatical man, that ain’t nothing, I’ll take care of it.”
The news outlet notes that Harvey and Hicks have been longtime members of the Omega Psi Phi, an African-American fraternity.
Hicks also accused Harvey of counting the number of Black people in his audience in fear that too many people of color could cost him sponsorship deals.
“I’m not going to let these n****s mess it up for me,” Hicks quoted Harvey before sending the comedian a message. “We just again want to say, Brother, you’re our family, recognize that and come on back, let’s do it the right way. It’s not going to work out in the long run when you’re doing things for people that really are oppressing you, and it’s just for money.”
Swipe below to hear Mo’Nique and Hicks’ sentiments about Harvey. Additionally, Mo’Nique reveals a joke of hers allegedly used in the film, ‘White Chicks.’
Mo’Nique said she couldn’t touch on the issue with producers during the taping because she was caught up addressing Harvey, saying she’d “been a problem” in Hollywood.
The ‘Family Feud’ host was referring to the drama that ensued between Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels, and Oprah Winfrey.
In 2009, Mo’Nique reportedly had a falling out with the trio over her refusal to promote the movie ‘Precious’ overseas, per Atlanta Black Star.
She claimed that the contract she signed didn’t mention additional work internationally, and they would have to compensate her because she didn’t work for free.
Mo’Nique would win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2010.
But instead of her career flourishing after the significant feat, she’d been shunned by the industry over the drama with Perry, Daniels, and Winfrey, according to PEOPLE.
Then, in 2019, she sued Netflix for gender and racial bias. Mo’Nique claimed she received an offer to lead her comedy special, but the company failed to negotiate a fair deal.
Reportedly, the streaming platform only offered her $500,000.
In contrast to comedians such as Amy Schumer, who were making millions for their stand-up specials, via Page Six, she deemed this to be quite the insult.
Mo’Nique, at that point, had gained a reputation for being “difficult.”
“I said no to some powerful people,” she told Harvey, per Deadline. “I said no to Oprah Winfrey, I said no TO Tyler Perry, I said no to Lee Daniels, and I said no to Lionsgate. The difficulty came when people that look like me, like Oprah, Tyler, Lee Daniels — and I gotta put my brother Steve [Harvey] on the list — y’all knew I was not wrong. Each one of you said to me, ‘Mo’Nique, you’re not wrong.'”
Mo’Nique also shared her disapproval of Harvey criticizing how she handled the situation with Winfrey, Daniels, and Perry.
“When you went on the air and said, ‘My sister burned too many bridges and there’s nothing I can do for her now,’ do you know how hurt I was?”
“I thought you went about it wrong,” Harvey hit back. “I felt you had done yourself a disservice by the way you chose to go about it.”
