Television legends and celebrated comedians Mo’Nique and Steve Harvey finally had a chance to sit down and discuss on his eponymous show. For many years, the comedienne (who was a part of the successful comedy circuit Kings/Queens Of Comedy) had spoken of being blackballed by Hollywood power brokers, including Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry and Lee Daniels. Last year, she called for a boycott of streaming service Netflix- which she accused of offering her a small sum for a comedy special, unlike the millions Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle got paid.
Rolling back the years with Steve Harvey, the conversation soon went left when the host suggested that Mo’Nique did not handle her disagreements with the industry well. While accepting that he should have reached out to Mo’Nique earlier (as her “big brother”), he also asked that she apologized to the other parties. “When you tell the truth, you have to deal with the repercussions of the truth. We black out here. We can’t come out here and do it any kind of way we want to. … This is the money game. This ain’t the black man’s game, this ain’t the white man’s game. This is the money game,” he said.
Mo’Nique stood her ground and said she doesn’t regret anything she said in the past, adding also that the money game was not as important as having dignity.
Watch their tense encounter above and below here.