After Taraji P. Henson made headlines regarding the poor conditions that she and her Black woman co-stars experienced on the set of the Winfrey-co-produced film “The Color Purple,” it evolved into a wider conversation about Black women in Hollywood and how they’ve never been paid their worth.
I realized that I’d heard a similar message years ago from Mo’Nique, but the Oscar-winning actress and comedian’s message didn’t receive nearly the same attention at the time.
During a Golden Globes interview earlier this week with Winfrey and “The Color Purple” co-stars Danielle Brooks and Fantasia Barrino, Gayle King asked Winfrey directly about the alleged feud between her and Henson. Winfrey said that as soon as she heard Henson was unhappy, she got on the phone to fix the problems.
“Everything got handled,” she said. “It’s so disturbing to me because why is my name even in this conversation? I’ve been the champion for everybody.” Brooks and Barrino defended Winfrey during the interview.
Mo’Nique, who’s beef with Winfrey is well documented, heard something much differently than what Winfrey intended.
“Everything was, ‘Didn’t I champion for y’all?’ I was like, ‘Stop it. You didn’t champion for those Black women, for our sisters,” Mo’Nique said.
“What [she] did was, ‘We can treat them like we always treat them, who gon’ check me boo? I’m Oprah Winfrey,’” she added. “You know everything should have been done when you showed up…Now when you hear our beautiful sisters saying, ‘yeah but it got fixed,’ it’s like we’re making it worse.”
Among Henson’s complaints: A lack of food for on-set talent, substandard trailers and an insistence on sending talent their own rental vehicles to drive to the set instead of having them picked up. Mo’Nique insisted that there’s no way that the actors should not have encountered these issues if Winfrey were doing her job.
“So, when Oprah Winfrey sits at the helm and Taraji P. Henson says, ‘It’s an honor that we were hand-picked for this movie,’ Well, if they were hand-picked for that movie, those women should have been taken care of from the moment go.”
Sidney Hicks, Mo’Nique’s manager and husband of 18 years, added: “If you look up the title of ‘producer,’ you’ll find that what Oprah fixed should have already been prepared when they got there. You shouldn’t have to fix that because it should have already been done.”
“Oprah got caught,” Mo’Nique added. “That’s what happened.”
Finally receiving affirmation
The Academy Award-winning actress and comedian has spent years dogged by headlines suggesting she was “blackballed” in Hollywood because of her outspokenness. Headlines have suggested that Mo’Nique was frozen out of opportunities by the likes of Winfrey, Tyler Perry, her “Precious” director Lee Daniels.
But after the last few weeks, which have seen Henson go viral more than once for speaking out about poor compensation for Black actresses, Mo’Nique’s statements about Winfrey and her interviews discussing the problems in Hollywood – including her infamous 2019 interview on The Breakfast Club – have received a renewed, and reaffirming, look.
“We’re in the phase of people catching up to what it really is,” Mo’Nique said. “If the messenger is not what we think the messenger should look like, we don’t want to hear the message though it might be true.”
Mo’Nique has always insisted that she experienced the pay issues that Henson spoke about: Even after winning an Oscar, her salary didn’t change. In fact, she said she was expected to start at the bottom.
“When this thing first started happening, I remember my husband taking me by the hand and saying, ‘Mama, we’re going to be okay, and the people are going to catch up to what it really is,’” Mo’Nique said of her career tribulations.
Mo’Nique said she reached out to Henson via Instagram’s direct message to lend her support because she doesn’t have her number.
“I met Taraji years ago…that’s a beautiful sister and that’s a beautiful soul,” Mo’Nique said. “When I saw her on that platform breaking down, that pained me to see her going through that.”
“Fear is real”
Earlier this week, TMZ caught up with actress Vivica A. Fox, who co-starred with Mo’Nique and Henson in the 2004 cult classic “Hair Show,” to ask how she felt about Henson’s comments on pay inequality for Black actresses in Hollywood.
“I am very happy I didn’t have that experience. I love my girls for looking out for each other, but I’m good,” the “Set it Off” actress responded.
Many believe Fox was being dismissive, but Mo’Nique said her response is an unfortunate by-product of the fear of being blackballed in the industry.
“Remember when I came out and said, ‘this is not right?’” she asked. “Fear is real. It’s like I don’t want to get beat.”
Hicks added: “We don’t begrudge individuals for their fear, but the true fear should be what’s going to happen to us in the long run if I don’t speak up.”
Of her divisive delivery that’s become associated with her brand, Mo’Nique said, “Humbly, it was easier for our community to accept a broken Black woman. And we saw Taraji be broken and bent over and crying.”
“It’s hard for our community to accept a Black woman that has a strong Black man by her side saying [this treatment is] unacceptable.”
At press time, Winfrey’s publicist has not replied to our request for comment.