Mo’Nique shocked the world last week when she revealed that her Precious director and producer Lee Daniels told her in recent months that she’d been blackballed in Hollywood and lost roles in some of his productions for being too “difficult” to work with. Although Mo’Nique herself seemed unclear on exactly why she was blackballed, she revealed more information about her predicament and revealed the coveted role she’d been offered in the Daniels’ hit TV show “Empire.”
Mo’Nique spoke about being blackballed on a recent episode of “Inside Edition” and she revealed that she’d been offered the role of fan-favorite character Cookie Lyon.
“When he called me up, he offered me the role in ‘Empire’ as Cookie,” Mo’Nique shared.
However, she explained that just days later, Gibson took the offer off the table.
“Maybe four days had gone by, and I hadn’t heard anything. So I’m trying to reach out to him to say, what time do I need to be in? Where do I need to be? When he finally returned the call, he says listen, the executives at Fox said that you’re difficult,” she said.
She continued, “And I said to them, ‘Well, let her be my difficulty,’ and not saying, ‘Well, where did you hear that from and what makes her difficult?’ He never said that and he’s knowing he and I have never had a situation on any of the projects we’ve done. It’s actually been a great time.”
When Mo’Nique was asked if she really is a difficult person to work with, she replied, “When I hear Mr. Daniels making those comments, he and I know that that’s not true.”
Well, it’s unfortunate for Mo’Nique that her business and personal relationship with Daniels seems to be souring and that she missed out on such a major part in “Empire.” However, considering what an amazing job that Taraji P. Henson is doing as Cookie, we can’t imagine any other actress playing the role so brilliantly.
