Culture & Entertainment
Comedian Mo'Nique is voicing her opinions regarding the ongoing Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild union strikes, despite being allegedly blacklisted in the entertainment industry for years after advocating for equal wages.
The strikes started in early May after the WGA, which contained about 11,500 writers, decided to protest when their requests for higher wages and more residuals were unmet. A few months later, in July, the Screen Actors Guild union, also known as SAG-AFTRA, joined the movement when negotiations for more residual pay from streaming fell through.
Since the strikes began, many celebrities have come forward in support of the protest, such as Aisha Tyler, Jodie Turner-Smith, Yvonne Orji, and Vivica A. Fox, to name a few.
On July 19, Mo'Nique showed her solidarity on Instagram by recalling her past experiences of being shunned by influential people and companies simply for demanding more money due to her expertise in the field.
The various reasons why Mo'Nique was allegedly blackballed in the industry were because the star refused to promote the hit 2009 film Precious for no additional pay and her highly publicized discrimination lawsuit against Netflix.
Mo'Nique boycotted and sued Netflix for gender and racial bias in 2019 after the company offered her $500,000 for a comedy special. At the same time, other comedians like Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, and Amy Schumer received paychecks worth millions of dollars. The lawsuit between Mo'Nique and Netflix was ultimately settled last year for an undisclosed amount, and the actress has since released her stand-up special My Name Is Mo'Nique on the platform.
Mo'Nique's Resurfaced Viral Clip On Boycotting and Low Wages
In the post, which featured a compilation video of Mo'Nique's past interviews on Steve, TV One's NewsOneNow, and The View, the 55-year-old discussed why she was very adamant about standing her ground when it came to Netflix and refusing to take on any project that didn't pay her what she's worth.
In the 2019 Steve interview, Mo'Nique explained that she called for a Netflix boycott at the time because of the low compensation she was presented with.
"Inequality is devastating, and it's extreme. When people say, 'Mo'Nique, do you think calling a boycott was extreme?' You damn right. Isn't inequality extreme?" she said.
Further into the clip, Mo'Nique opened up about the adverse effects of calling out powerful people without getting support from her community.
"I got labeled as difficult because I said one word, and that was no. You called me with the morning show on the phone. I said to you, Steve [Harvey], my family is suffering behind this," she stated. "Y'all know I did nothing wrong. Y'all know my husband did nothing wrong. But none of y'all in real time was strong enough to go public."
In another interview with TV One's NewsOneNow, Mo'Nique provided insight into why she declined many roles that had what she considered lowball offers and how it could impact the future generation.
"It's not like I couldn't be on television or couldn't be back in the movies," she said. "But the offers didn't make sense, and we felt like if we continued to accept the offers coming in, what does that leave the little girl, who's not here yet."
Mo'Nique On Current WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strike
In addition to the compilation video, Mo'Nique shared a touching caption regarding her stance on the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike.
The BMF star informed her fans that she supports the cause because she's been fighting about this for years, so much so that she and fellow actress Countess Vaughn are also suing to get their residual money from The Parkers, which is currently streaming on Netflix.
"Hey, my sweet babies. Folks keep asking me how I feel about the strike! As you can see from above, I've been verbally striking for years," she wrote. "But some of my brothers & sisters, as the video shows, have been striking me down for years. But, yes I support the WGA & SAG/AFTRA. That's why @Countessdvaughn & I filed a lawsuit to get our money from The Parkers!!!
@Countessdvaughn We are The Parkers!!!
I love us 4real!!!"
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Feature image by Paras Griffin/WireImage
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