Mo’Nique has reignited her longtime feud with Oprah Winfrey, saying that the celebrated talk show queen “betrayed” her.
Speaking to Shannon Sharpe during his Club Shay Shay podcast, Mo’ Nique indicated that she loves Oprah so much, but speaks about her because Oprah does the same.
Mo’Nique went on to say that she would speak publicly about people who speak privately about her. She further accused Oprah of being unfair, unjust, and watched on while a Black woman was thrown under the bus.
Recalling an incident in 2010 when she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Precious, 56-year-old Mo’Nique claimed her husband, Sidney Hicks, told her that Winfrey, 70, was visibly bothered that the crowd was screaming for Mo’Nique instead of her.
She went on to say that from that point onwards, she realized that movie roles that were offered to her ended up going to the Color Purple star.
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“The movie ‘The Butler’ that movie was offered to me,” Mo’Nique said, adding that the film’s director, Lee Daniels, confirmed that he offered her the role as well.
According to Mo’Nique, the same thing happened again in a Richard Pryor biopic which Daniels offered her a role as the grandmother.
Aside from Winfrey allegedly taking roles from the Almost Christmas star also had an issue with Oprah for interviewing her brother Gerald Imes, who admitted to molesting her as a child.
The Charm School alum explained that Oprah called to tell her that Imes asked to be on The Oprah Winfrey Show so he could apologize to Mo’Nique for what he did to her. However, Mo’Nique, who had just won her Oscar, said she “didn’t want anything to do” with her brother or the interview.
Winfrey offered to drop the show altogether, but the stand-up comedian encouraged her not in case her brother had changed or wanted to share a positive lesson. When the show moved forward, Mo’Nique learned in a commercial that her parents, whom she didn’t get along with, were also being interviewed along with Imes, a development she was not in the least comfortable with.