A decade ago, Monique claims she was blackballed by Tyler Perry following a fallout during the promotion of the film “Precious.” While the movie earned her an Oscar for best supporting actress, Monique has not appeared in any other big films to date and has spent the better part of the last couple of years fighting to get her story out and get an apology from Tyler. Some argue that Monique should be way bigger right now if it were not for the bad blood between her and Tyler.
Monique sat down with TS Madison earlier this week to clear up any confusion about what happened. According to her, she was only contracted to Lee Daniels for the film Precious. Monique was paid $50k because it was an indie film, something she was ok with. When the movie reached Sundance, Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey signed on as producers to help the movie get to a wider market. It was at this point that Tyler and Oprah began pressuring Monique to campaign for the film. Monique says she had no interest because she was not contracted to them, and they were not paying her any additional money. She opted to stay home with her family and still managed to bring home the Oscar. Unfortunately, Perry still badmouthed her to other producers and directors making it hard for her to work. Oprah never defended her either.
Monique claims that Perry offered to speak to her recently and clear the air but demanded that she apologize first and that she could not bring her husband to the meeting. While discussing Monique’s interview with TS Madison, Claudia Jordan expressed that Monique should be as big as Viola Davis right now. Co-hosts Al Reynolds agreed and said that Monique has always told the same story and has been consistent. “I always salute Monique in standing in her truth.”
Funky Dineva said he was torn on this issue. While he supports her and wants to champion her, he feels like he is not sure what her end game is and believes she’s stuck. According to Dineva, Mo’Nique has two options, “You’ve got to clearly define what you want do you want vengeance or do you want to work because you can’t have both. If you want to work, then you have to forgo this battle.”
Claudia recalls speaking with Monique a year prior and how the interview was consistent with what Monique said on TS Madison’s show. She also says she spoke with Tyler shortly afterward, who claims that he never blackballed Monique and that he had a film lined up for her. Jordan feels the two need to sit down and hash things out because she feels it’s a simple misunderstanding or miscommunication.
Over on social media, people championed Monique for her consistency and for standing her ground. “I know Oprah and Tyler Perry were sick when Monique won the Oscar without campaigning,” said one. “It’s VERY interesting that Tyler Perry, of all people, would be nasty like that towards Monique when the demographic he caters to is mainly BLACK WOMEN! 🥴🤢 I’m sooo mad Monique had to go through that. She’s truly legendary! The Blueprint. ✨.” The funniest response? “Tyler Perry was jealous because Monique was the big beautiful woman he always dreamt to be 😔”
