‘I Kept Trying to Avoid What Was Being Said’: Mo’Nique Reveals Her Shocking Medical Diagnosis After Fans Encouraged Her to ‘Check Your Throat’

Mo’Nique is thanking her fans after they advised the actress and comedienne to get her neck checked.

Live Bitez shared a video of the Oscar winner on Instagram Live, where Mo’Nique thanked those who encouraged her to go to the doctor after noticing the difference in her voice and that her thyroid looked enlarged.

According to the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, thyroid disorders can result in hypothyroidism, when the gland produces too little thyroid hormone, and hyperthyroidism, when the gland produces too much. Thyroid disorders can affect mood, energy levels, metabolism, heart rate, bone health, and pregnancy.

“I owe some people a ‘thank you,’ and I owe some folks that were paying attention to me and brought something to my attention,” Mo’Nique said. “And I kept trying to avoid what was being said, right? So, I’m gonna share y’all, for the people that kept bringing it to my attention, and I want to say ‘thank you’ because when I would do some lives or some posts, some of the comments would be ‘Mo, check your throat. Check your throat’.”

She went on to say that she would normally tell people that she was fine and just had a “fat neck.”

“Your thyroid looks like it’s it’s having a problem, and I would say ‘Oh no no no no, I just got a fat neck,’ and I was very comfortable and in saying, ‘I just got a fat neck.'”

The “Precious” actress added that she did end up having a thyroid issue and encouraged others not to neglect their health.

“So, I am here to tell y’all, the ones that told me to look out for that, it was actually my thyroid. And sisters, when your thyroid is out of whack, I tell you everything is out of whack,” Mo’Nique shared. “Everything. So, please, please take it from me. Don’t put it off. Don’t neglect what you need to go get dealt with.”

“Thank you for saying, ‘Auntie! Your neck is fat,'” she added.

People online noted that Mo’Nique’s voice sounded different in the clip. The 56-year-old’s voice sounded much higher than normal as she spoke to her fans in the video.

“That’s not her voice,” wrote one fan. “She sounds so different,” added another. “I’m lookin’ at Monique but hearing Whitney Houston pls send help,” joked one.

Several other fans noted that they were praying for Mo’Nique amidst her health issues and wished her well.

Mo’Nique announced back in February that she was joining Katt Williams on his Dark Matter Tour, which is currently ongoing and ends on May 11 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her first appearance was in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on Feb. 9.

Democracy needs journalism it can trust.

This election season, the stakes are higher than usual — and so is the pressure on newsrooms to soften their coverage, stay quiet, or just disappear. Independent reporting, the kind that answers to readers instead of advertisers or political pressure, matters more in a moment like this, not less.

For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed independent and reader-funded. We have no corporate owner and no shareholders telling us what to cover or how to cover it. That independence is also our biggest vulnerability: nothing protects it except readers choosing to fund it directly.

Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under in a moment like this, it's rarely the independent, reader-funded ones that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top