Things went completely left over the weekend after Mo’Nique called out fellow comedian D.L. Hughley during her performance in Detroit at the Fox Theatre. While on stage Saturday, May 28, “The Queens of Comedy” star blamed “The Kings of Comedy” star for having her removed as a headliner for the show and claims he threatened to pull out if she headlined. Afterward, the “Soul Plane” actors exchanged words via social media, sharing their own accounts of what took place.
But on Tuesday, May 31, “The D.L. Hughley Show” host returned to set the record straight on his radio show during the segment titled, “The GED Section.” The actor and entertainer began by explaining he was previously offered at least four other gigs with Mo’Nique, which he turned down. And after the recent turn of events from this showcase and based on her relationships with other industry vets, it’s likely he’s discouraged from agreeing to work with her again.
“Now I know what Tyler Perry knows. I know what Lee Daniels knows, Oprah knows, I know what Steve Harvey knows. I know what Charlamagne Tha God knows. I know what Netflix knows,” Hughley stated. “Saying yes to Mo’Nique is an occupational hazard.”
He said the Academy Award-winning actress pulled “the oldest trick in the world” by attempting to make people wait for her to go on stage, adding that she never addressed him about the contract.
“I empathically emphasize this… she never once talk to me. I haven’t seen Mo’Nique in years. I didn’t see her at the venue before, after, or during. I haven’t spoken or seen Mo’Nique,” he revealed. “So If you really thought you had a legitimate contract dispute, you would have come to me and said, ‘Hey, I had this contract and you had this contract.’ Notice not one thing one that contract, not one person she has in that contract, not one thing happened. Do you know why? Because it wasn’t legitimate.”
Speaking directly to Mo’Nique and her husband, Sidney Hicks, he added, “You wrote your contract. You and your daddy.” Mo’Nique apparently calls Hicks by the pet name Daddy.
The L.A. native was confused why Mo’Nique chose to “eviscerate” him on stage by bringing up his wife and the “support dog” he named after his late father, Charles Ronald Hughley.
“I don’t have a dog to keep people away from me. I have a dog so I have my father with me all the time,” he explained. “That is an act of love, which you know very little about.”
The radio host also accused Mo’Nique of not having a “valid contract” and doing “what you’ve always done … tried to weaponize Black femininity.” He added that it was unreasonable for her to request $10 million for a Netflix special in today’s climate simply because she starred in the standup film “The Queens of Comedy,” which aired in 2001.
In spite of all that transpired, Hughley was mainly “bothered” the “Precious” star used her time on stage to “besiege” the audience with her problems after several mass shootings over the last couple of weeks.
“I don’t blame you. I wish you well,” he noted. “But when you do the things you do. When everything is about you … all of these fights and all of these entities. It is you.” He also stated that “‘Precious‘ was not a movie. ‘Precious’ was an autobiography. That is who you are, literally.”
The 59-year-old ended the video with more attacks aimed at Mo’Nique’s husband, “And I don’t know why you call a man daddy and you pay for him. That’s a son.”
He continued, “When you burn and you destroy and you wreck you are not a ‘Queen of Comedy.’ You’re a Queen of Ashes. I’m going to go back to work and you get back to your kingdom of smoke.”
