Mo’Nique Tries To Explain Her Netflix Stance On ‘The Breakfast Club’
By VIBE
In mid-January, Mo’Nique called the attention of the masses to boycott streaming giant Netflix. The reason stemmed from a comedy special deal gone wrong when the acclaimed actress questioned the company’s offer and cited racial and gender bias. The amount was nothing compared to that of Amy Schumer’s past deal and it didn’t reflect the zeroes Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock cashed in for their segments.
Following a series of explanations via her social media channels and other radio and digital interviews, Mo’Nique was deemed “Donkey of the Day” by The Breakfast Club’s co-host Charlamagne Tha God. To understand the reason behind the author’s decision, Mo’Nique and her husband/manager Sidney Hicks joined the daily radio morning show to get an answer.
Before Charlamagne presented his stance, Mo’Nique noted that while she did her media rounds with diverse outlets, she felt she received the most backlash from the black community, noting how harmful her being labeled “Donkey of the Day” can be to the listeners.
“Then I come to my folks and I have to be ‘Donkey of the Day,’ which you still haven’t explained Lenard and you’re going to have to because when you make those types of statements about your sister to our community,” Mo’Nique said to Charlamagne, “what you’re saying to the community is as black women you’re devalued and if you stand up and you make a stand and you say ‘We need equality’ and we have to say what’s right and what’s fair, and then a brother that looks like me from South Carolina that you’re the ‘Donkey of the Day,’ you have to explain that to the community.”
To that inquiry, Charlamagne responded with, “I said that I think you’re using racial and gender bias which are actual real issues, the struggle that the black woman is going through in many industries is a real issue, but you’re using it to focus on something that you’re dealing with individually.”
Mo’Nique then brought up actress Viola Davis’ recent statement where she also called for equal pay. “When you have us saying the same thing, we’re saying pay us equally, you’re saying, ‘Oh Mo’Nique, this is an isolated situation,’ well then what that says is you don’t know the history of this business that you’re in and you sit behind this microphone and you try to be the guru of black culture,” she said again to Charlamagne. “I’m going to need you to know the history of us before you begin to label us and once you know the history you know I’m not saying anything unique brother.”
The 50-year-old Oscar winner also addressed rumors around her behavior on movie sets and why black women comedians have yet to receive the same dividends as their counterparts/peers.
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