CynicKill said:

A local critic mentioned around the time of her Oscar run about how she was rubbing Hollywood the wrong way by not participating in the curious phenomenon known as Oscar campaigning. He said he was in her corner because Mo'nique was letting the work speak for itself.

At the time she had a talk show to work, so she decided to do that instead.

BET axed her talk show, just like they did "Don't Sleep", because the concept of slow building, low cost productions seems to be lost on them.

So Mo sits, unemployed, while one-note "actresses" like Oprah are offered her roles?

I don't think they're offering them. Oprah is asking for them. Maybe she's doing what Bey did to Ledisi at the Grammys.

Let's stop blaming The Mighty Oprah..Remember Lee was getting his projects financed long before Mighty O was in the picture....Even if Oprah wasnt featured in Lee's films she'd still give him an ass load of Money (like she did with Precious) and Gladly accept a producing-credit.......It was Lee who chose not to Cast Mo in his most recent projects..There's no other way to spin it...Call it for what it is...

thedoorkeeper said:

Please don't refer to Oprah as an actress. She is a tv celebrity who likes to be in movies.

For your information, Oprah filmed her groundbreaking debut role in "The Color Purple", before her talk show went national & anyone know who she was..So she was an actress first!!!

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

thedoorkeeper said:

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

For your information, Oprah filmed her groundbreaking debut role in "The Color Purple", before her talk show went national & anyone know who she was..So she was an actress first!!!

The key word in your statement is national. She started her talk show in Chicago in 1984 before The Color Purple was made. She was a talk show host before she made the movie. Before that she was on the local news. Are you saying she auditioned for The Color Purple and Steven Spielberg had no idea who she was? And when did she take acting lessons?

No! The KEYWORDS is "NOONE knew who she was". Meaning the audience established her as a TRIPLE threat early in her career. Because she has a BIG presence and charisma. Oprah paved the way for Ricky Lake,Queen Latifah & Steve Harvey to ultimately get their own talk shows. From being known as actors themselves. Don't downplay her gift! That has made her an Oscar nominated actress.

By the way Brad Pitt,Tom Cruise, Cameron Diaz,Johnny Depp,Jim Carrey,Meg Ryan and my all time favorite comedian Eddie Murphy, NEVER took acting lessons! They're the biggest stars on the planet.

Sometimes when the stars collide. Acting lesson are not neccessary.

dian Eddie Murphy, never took acting lessons! They're the biggest stars on the planet.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Chancellor said:

Let's stop blaming The Mighty Oprah..Remember Lee was getting his projects financed long before Mighty O was in the picture....Even if Oprah wasnt featured in Lee's films she'd still give him an ass load of Money (like she did with Precious) and Gladly accept a producing-credit.......It was Lee who chose not to Cast Mo in his most recent projects..There's no other way to spin it...Call it for what it is...

There seemed to be a lot of chatter about how difficult Mo was once she hit it "Oscar" big, with her BET talk show, as well as on the Academy trail. This just in from Swagger New York, btw:

.

About That Time Mo'Nique'...r New York

.

About That Time Mo’Nique’s Husband Threatened Me…And Why Hollywood Blackballed Them

.

In 2010, I returned to the States from a long-stay in Paris. I was poor, but having escaped the hustle of the entertainment industry for eight long months, I felt more energized than ever to return to TV to tell great stories.

My first gig was at BET, where I was hired to help produce content around the 82nd Academy Awards. They called them “The Black Oscars” that year because of Precious, the critically-acclaimed Lee Daniels flick that received six nominations for its portrayal of one black girl’s struggle for acceptance. Everyone – black, white, urban, suburban – was excited to see this movie nab all six statues on the biggest awards night of the year.

Precious‘s star was Mo’Nique, a comedian turned dramatic actor, who was favored to win Best Supporting Actress for her role as the main character’s drug-riddled and depressed mother. As I was told to focus on stories around Mo’Nique and her character, I began to do research on her “process” as an actress and her history as a comedian. But I was also tasked with watching her on various red carpets leading up to the Oscars.

And that’s when I started to learn about Mo’Nique, the business woman. She and her long-time husband/manager, Sidney Hicks, were becoming the talk of the industry because they allegedly asked for money to show up on carpets to support Precious. While she was not contractually obliged to show up to many of these carpets, most nominated actors “kissed the ring” to sweeten their hopes of a win, if not to continue hype around their nominated movie. But Mo’Nique and Sidney didn’t want to “play the game”, as she recently told The Hollywood Reporter. They wanted to get paid to play the game.

I couldn’t report on that, really. It wasn’t a fact I could prove, nor one I thought super important, given the weight of the film itself. One thing everyone wanted to know, though, was What Would Mo’Nique wear?! There was rumor that the actress was having her Oscar dress designed by Tom and Linda Platt in NYC, so I called them. After chatting with Tom various times, we decided that the BET crew would come by to shoot an interview with the designers and show off the types of dresses they created. “Of course, we couldn’t reveal the dress,” Tom told me. “Of course,” I answered. The plan was set, we’d show up on Wednesday to shoot our segment.

On Tuesday afternoon, my phone rang. “Hi, this is Sidney. Who am I speaking with?” I had no idea who Sidney could be, I had no friends or work associates with the name. Before I could even finish my name, he began screaming and immediately it clicked. “ARE YOU THE ONE WHO TRIED TO SHOW MO’NIQUE’S FUC*ING OSCAR DRESS ON TV?! ARE YOU THE PRODUCER?! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I WILL GET YOU FIRED WHEN I TALK TO YOUR FUC*ING BOSS.”

I hate when people scream at me.

And I especially hate being blamed for a wrong that I never committed. After all, no one – not me or Tom Platt – wanted to show Mo’Nique’s dress. The story, as agreed upon by me and Platt, was to showcase the relatively unknown designers behind the dress.

I took a breath and responded with something like “First of all, Sidney. Don’t scream at me. Tom and I never planned on actually shooting the dress, as the story isn’t about your wife, it’s about the designers who are dressing her.” After a five minute back and forth, which was part-shouting match part macho ball-grabbing on his part, I was over dealing with Sidney, Mo’Nique’s nasty, mean husband. He assured me that he knew “Reggie Hudlin (the President of BET at the time) and Debra Lee (its CEO),” and that Mo’Nique was major at the network (she soon hosted her own late-night show) and that I was “fucking with the wrong one.” And so, with my co-workers staring at me in horror, I gave him my boss’s number, telling Hicks “Feel free to talk to him, but I’m sure he’ll tell you the same thing, which, as I mentioned before, is that WE NEVER PLANNED ON SHOWING HER DRESS.”

And that should give you a micro-hint at the macro problem of why no one wants to work with Mo’Nique. Because aside from “not playing the game,” she has a non-professional husband who does all of her dealings. And, frankly, Sidney is not someone anyone wants to actually deal with. So while playing the game would be helpful, being nice (and informed) would probably help too. I hope she gets her chance for a renaissance in an unforgiving Hollywood, but I also hope she (and Sidney) have changed the tune.

Mo’Nique ended up wearing Tadashi Shoji to the event. And I always believed that Sidney and she cancelled on wearing the Platts on account of the BET interview. I’ll never know for sure.

-Sian-Pierre

Instead of playing the blame game on why Mo'Nique career hasn't flourished...

There's a long list of actors and actresses who've won Oscars' for Best Supporting Actor or Actress whose careers went know where. Mo'Nique was at the right place at the right time to played a part that her peers thought was Oscar worthy. How old is Mo'Nique 45, 48? This is way past an actress prime to be offered substantial roles. Age, plus being Black, plus being a heavy-set woman has limited the roles she'll be offered. Also, Hollywood still plays one Black "star" actor/actress at a time... more often than not the "star" is a Black man. And still most Black actors / actress are still limited in the roles and movies they'll be offered. How many movies playing "the help" or "bio-pic' movies can one make? Unfair, yep but that's how that town has always operared. Oh, if you say Oprahis all of these things too.... Oprah, an actress that happens to run a billion dollar media empire, who finances movies.

If folks were soooooo upset about her refusing to to campaign for an Oscar, she wouldn't have won in the 1st place. Doesn't this she have her own production company? Oprah angel... to silly to address.

======================================

[Edited 2/24/15 11:55am]

Ottensen said:

And that should give you a micro-hint at the macro problem of why no one wants to work with Mo’Nique. Because aside from “not playing the game,” she has a non-professional husband who does all of her dealings. And, frankly, Sidney is not someone anyone wants to actually deal with.

Sounds like the main reason BET cancelled that show of hers as well.

Many a career have faltered because the actor or artist refused to "play the game".

And I absolutely believe the stories about her husband. Monique is a fool for letting him get involved in her business because as soon as they divorce, he's going to want to drain her of every penny she has, claiming he was her manager and she owes him millions of dollars for his services. Or either he's going to steal what he feels is owed. We've all seen this story play out many times.

I guess it's true what they say. Timing (and a little controversy) is everything.

[Edited 2/25/15 10:16am]

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I guess it's true what they say. Timing (and a little controversy) is everything.

[Edited 2/25/15 10:16am]

>

Oooh you wrong...

So does this mean she has a movie coming out Apr. 24th? It says Academy Award winner. I'm confused now. What was wrong? Are there multiple convos happening on the same subject around here again?

^I was just saying 'oooh you wrong' for blowing up her spot intimating that she's coming out with this JUST in time for her latest movie to come out. Publicity whore much?

morningsong said:

So does this mean she has a movie coming out Apr. 24th? It says Academy Award winner. I'm confused now. What was wrong? Are there multiple convos happening on the same subject around here again?

Yes, the movie in the poster "Blackbird" hits theaters on April 24th and since controversy sells, I was noting how interesting the timing of all this is.

CynicKill said:

^I was just saying 'oooh you wrong' for blowing up her spot intimating that she's coming out with this JUST in time for her latest movie to come out. Publicity whore much?

HatrinaHaterwitz said:

I guess it's true what they say. Timing (and a little controversy) is everything.

[Edited 2/25/15 10:16am]

I already mentioned this movie she already did...

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

Blackbird (IV) (2014)

: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3181920/

A young singer struggles with his sexuality and the treatment of others while coming of age in a small Southern Baptist community.

Credited cast:
	Julian Walker	...	Randy Rousseau
	Kevin Allesee	...	Marshall MacNeil
	Mo'Nique	...	Claire Rousseau
	Isaiah Washington	...	Lance Rousseau
	Terrell Tilford	...	Pastor Crandall
	Gary LeRoi Gray	...	Efrem
	Torrey Laamar	...	Todd Waterson
	D. Woods	...	Leslie Crandall (as Wanita 'D. Woods' Woodgett)
	Nikki Jane	...	Crystal
	Lindsay Seim	...	Libby
	Nicole Lovince	...	Justine
did not see any advertisments in the movie listings last year.

Not sure about the content of the movie itself, but Mo's acting skills still look on point!

Mo’Nique Opens Up About Being Blackballed by Hollywood To Don Lemon Cnn Tonight

I am DVR'ing the entire season of Empire so I haven't seen one episode but I already know Taraji is putting it down cuz she's Bad like that..We know what she can do on the screen..A friend of mine is watching Empire and she said she can't picture Mo'nique in the role. I told her of course not becuz Taraji's version/vision of "Cookie" is coming from a different place and I'm guessing Lee changed some things about the character when Taraji agreed to play the role.....Had Mo'nique been given the role she would have played it Masterfully and I DARE anybody to argue against that fact...Don't down-play Mo'nique cuz she's speaking out...

So the original would've cast Wesley Snipes and Mo'Nique?

That would've worked.

Different show but it would've worked.

CynicKill said:

So the original would've cast Wesley Snipes and Mo'Nique?

That would've worked.

Different show but it would've worked.

Exactly...We can only picture Wesley & Mo'nique going at it...LOL...I like Terrence, he's a Great Actor but sometimes I get tired of that "Snob/Black Suburban" type of character he gives us...The slicked back hair, and the expensive suits and the Belvedere voice...y'all know what I'm talking about...

I never thought Terrence, was that good of an actor. But he is playing the hell out of this role, as if his life depended on it...The rest of the cast are all good actors, & slaying their roles. I never known a new show to grow every episode, in viewership, in the first season.

KCOOLMUZIQ said:

I never thought Terrence, was that good of an actor. But he is playing the hell out of this role, as if his life depended on it...The rest of the cast are all good actors, & slaying their roles. I never known a new show to grow every episode, in viewership, in the first season.

Remember what happened to the Iron Man part 2 negotiations? Terrence Agent asked for CRAZY money and they got shown the door..Empire is an awesome NEW HIT so let's hope they play ball so he can return for Season 2....

[Edited 3/9/15 2:04am]