Mo’Nique reignited her feud with Tyler Perry Thursday, Nov. 19, demanding a public apology from the media mogul for past transgressions against her.
It began with an Instagram post, in which Mo’Nique commented on Will Smith’s reconciliation with Janet Hubert on the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” reunion show, making a comparison between Smith’s apology with the lack of support she said Perry has exhibited toward her.
“Hats off to Will Smith for apologizing for what he did to Janet Huberts (everybody’s Aunt Viv) career/life when he was young,” she wrote. “Perhaps Tyler Perry, who has admitted in private that he was wrong will follow suit & be man enough to apologize in public like he promised. We’ll work on Oprah & Lions Gate a little later.”
She added, “P.S. Tyler you won E! PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD for being the peoples champ for your body of work. Tell the truth about a women named Mo’Nique who did nothing wrong & be a champion for the individuals who supported your career for years….THE BLACK WOMEN.”
The following slides in the post then displayed what is apparently an alleged phone conversation between Mo’Nique and Perry. In one of the slides, Perry appears to be complimenting Mo’Nique, and telling her she should have a much bigger career based on her abilities.
“I’m not anyone that wants to hurt or offend anybody, especially you,” he said. “I think you are brilliantly talented. I think you should have a lot more happening since you won that award. I thought for sure that if you had campaigned and won it and played by their rules, what would have happened is in the Netflix deal, you would have gotten millions of dollars, then your career in film would have been much different. I believe that much in your talent.”
The person assumed to be Perry also empathized with the comedian, saying,“I feel you. I feel the sadness that’s from you in all of this, and I don’t want you to feel that hunny, especially from me.”
In 2019, Mo’Nique claimed Oprah Winfrey and Lee Daniels were the reason she was blackballed from from work in Hollywood because she wouldn’t promote the film “Precious” without being paid. In a 2015 interview with Deadline, she also alleged that Daniels told her she was blacklisted after winning her Oscar because of her rumored “difficult” attitude.
“I got a phone call from Lee Daniels maybe six or seven months ago,” she said.”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.”
Mo’Nique has also asserted that Perry did not publicly come to her aid, though she has claimed he has offered her his support in private.
