Late Monday (Mar.9), Mo’Nique shared an open letter to her “sister” Whoopi Goldberg. Throughout the impassioned letter, which she shared on her Instagram page, the comedian takes The View host to task over a heated debate they had on the show back in 2018. “The tone of the comments today seems different from the energy eight years ago, with many people now agreeing with my sentiments about not working for people or entities I don’t owe anything to,” Mo’Nique wrote.
This decision to release the letter was seemingly spurred on after The Parkers actress saw a resurfaced clip of her and Goldberg’s heated back-and-forth. Mo’Nique had stopped by the show to discuss claims that she felt “exploited” by Precious director Lee Daniels, as well as Oprah and Tyler Perry, who were producers on the project, during the film’s promotional cycle. In the clip, which has since gone viral and been used as meme material, Mo’Nique argues that she had completed all her “contractual obligations” regarding promotion for the Oscar-winning film; however, Daniels, Perry, and Oprah allegedly pushed her behind the scenes to do more.
Her decision not to move forward ultimately led to her being “blackballed” in the industry, she claimed. In Goldberg’s opinion, it was Mo’Nique’s job to promote the film regardless of the deal she signed. Whoopi says the comedian should’ve reached out to her so she could “school her” on what to expect. In an effort to call out Whoopi’s hypocrisy, Mo’Nique referenced a lawsuit filed against Goldberg for not taking her role in the 1993 film Theodore Rex. For Mo’Nique, this information was surprising, especially after the comments she received from the talk show host.
“Your defense was that you never actually committed. You can imagine how confused I was when I discovered this, especially since when I explained that my only contractual obligation was to Lee Daniels, it didn’t sway your opinion enough to stop you from saying you could have ‘schooled’ me on doing what they expected from me.” Mo’Nique noted that it’s important to look out for the “little girl coming behind us.” She then equated the late disgraced financier and sexual predator, Jeffrey Epstein, to Tyler Perry regarding their ability to avoid accountability.
She added, “The reason I said we must look out for the little girl coming behind us is because of situations like Epstein Island and the other powerful people avoiding accountability. People like Tyler Perry refused to take responsibility, while I had to take responsibility for refusing to sign up for an act of slavery against my will,” Mo’Nique alleged. “The worst part is that another woman chastised me on a platform meant to empower women.”
Toward the end of the letter, Mo’Nique Goldberg’s judgment was clouded by her “deep connections” with Oprah and Tyler Perry, the latter of which claimed the comedian was difficult to work with, a statement with which he later admitted was not true. “Now I don’t know if your opinion of my actions was influenced by your former Executive Producer, Candi Carter’s relationship with Oprah, or by your professional ties with Tyler Perry,” she wrote. “But what is interesting is hearing you now speak about the importance of standing up for what’s right. My question is: is your stance truly about standing up against wrongs, or is it about standing with the ‘right people’?”
