Mo'Nique believed when she won her Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2010 that the offers for roles would flood in. Unfortunately, the opposite happen and all offers disappeared for the next five years.
Director Lee Daniels broke the news to Mo'Nique six months ago that she had been "blackballed" in the industry, she told The Hollywood Reporter. Daniels, who directed her Oscar-winning performance in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," claimed it was because she "didn't play the game."
Mo'Nique did little campaigning for her Oscar award, a time-honored tradition by many nominee recipients. It usually means attending the numerous pre-Oscar parties and presenting at the other award shows and ceremonies.
"I received a lot of criticism because people felt like I wasn't campaigning," she said. "The things people were writing and saying, it was mind-blowing. But what I was saying was, 'You want me to campaign for an award - and I say this with all the humility in the world - but you want me to campaign for an award that I didn't ask for."
The 47-year-old comedian had no acting jobs between 2009 and 2014. She's rarely been seen on screen since BET canceled her talk show, "The Mo'Nique Show," in 2011. She and her husband Sidney Hicks recently produced an independent film, "Blackbird," which she also plays a part in, that comes out on April 24.
Daniels approached her for roles in his recent projects, but each was "taken off the table." He offered her the role of Gloria Gaines, which later went to Oprah Winfrey, in "The Butler"; the role of Richard Pryor's grandmother in Daniels' upcoming biopic of the comedian (Oprah also took this role); and his Fox TV series, "Empire," starring Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard.
The Oscar-nominated director issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter clarifying his "blackball" remark:
"Mo'nique is a creative force to be reckoned with. Her demands through 'Precious' were not always in line with the campaign. This soured her relationship with the Hollywood community. I consider her a friend. I have and will always think of her for parts that we can collaborate on. However, the consensus amonth the creative teams and powers thus far were to go another way with these roles."
