The comedian’s response to Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks’ recent revelation about her challenging experience on “The Color Purple” set was that Oprah was just being Oprah!
Mo’Nique has always been vocal about her pay issues and says even after winning an Oscar in 2010, her salary didn’t change.
Yesterday, Mo’Nique spoke to The Root, voicing her opinion and sharing that she had expressed a similar sentiment to Taraji P. Henson’s pay inequality outburst years ago.
Zoning in on the Color Purple set flops, where Danielle Brooks disclosed the lack of food and dressing rooms for the cast, Mo’Nique had a few words for the producer, Oprah Winfrey.
According to the Bessie star, issues of poor working conditions for the talents would have been avoided if Oprah Winfrey had done her job as she was supposed to.
“And then when you hear Oprah say, ‘When Taraji called me. What did I do Taraji? Lady O fixed it.’ When Taraji called Oprah to fix things, what happened was Oprah got caught. That’s what happens.”
Sidney Hicks, Mo’Nique’s manager and husband of 18 years, affirmed his wife’s position on the situation.
“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,” he added.
Mo’Nique continued to hold Oprah accountable for not “doing her job”.
We all watched those videos with Oprah Winfrey and Taraji. We all hear different things that Oprah Winfrey may say… We watched this person (Oprah) in all these videos, saying, ‘Didn’t I champion for you all.’
“What she did was, ‘We can treat them like we always treat them black actresses. Who gon’ check me, boo? I’m Oprah Winfrey.’ 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.
“I was like, ‘Stop it. You didn’t champion for those Black women. For our sisters,” Mo’Nique said.
