Mo’Nique Calls Out Whoopi Goldberg for Criticizing Her on ‘The View’

Mo’Nique is calling out Whoopi Goldberg for “schooling” her on The View eight years ago over the actress declining to promote the film Precious overseas.

Mo’Nique took to Instagram to pen an open letter about the incident, in which Goldberg criticized Mo’Nique’s decision not to participate in additional promotion for her starring role in Lee Daniels’ acclaimed 2009 movie. Despite winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for the role, Mo’Nique says the resulting uproar over her decision severely damaged her career in Hollywood.

Addressing “Sister Whoopi,” Mo’Nique says she was inspired by seeing a resurfaced clip (watch it below) from their exchange (though she’s also addressed this issue periodically over the years).

“The tone of [watching the resurfaced] comments today seems different from the energy eight years ago, with many people now agreeing with my sentiments about not working for people or entities I don’t owe anything to,” she wrote (read her full text below). “I wonder, have your feelings changed since that time?”

“I was also intrigued to learn that in 1993 there was an attempt to sue you [to appear in the flop] Theodore Rex, because it was alleged that you had made a verbal commitment to the film,” she continued. “Your defense was that you never actually committed. You can imagine how confused I was when I discovered this, especially since when I explained that my only contractual obligation was to Lee Daniels, it didn’t sway your opinion enough to stop you from saying you could have ‘schooled’ me on doing what they expected from me … I’ll await your reply about whether you still feel you schooled me correctly.”

“Even though [Precious producer] Tyler Perry privately admitted on audio that he was wrong for saying I was difficult to work with, to this day he has not publicly corrected it,” she continued. “The reason I said ‘we must look out for the little girl coming behind us’ is because of situations like Epstein Island and other powerful people avoiding accountability. People like Tyler Perry refused to take responsibility, while I had to take responsibility for refusing to sign up for an act of slavery against my will. The worst part is that another woman chastised me on a platform meant to empower women … [was] your stance truly about standing up against wrong, or is it about standing with the ‘right people’? … So, are you willing to do what’s right for the little girls coming behind us, or is your position still ‘F’ the little girl coming behind us? I look forward to finding out.”

The crux of the original issue seems to be that Mo’Nique’s contractual obligation on Precious apparently did not state that she was expected to participate in overseas promotion. When she refused efforts by Daniels and Perry to get her to do additional promotion for free, she claims she was shunned by the industry. Whereas Goldberg’s stance seemed to be that actors are typically expected to do all they can to promote a film, while expressing doubt that such a requirement wasn’t in her contract.

In the original View clip, Mo’Nique stated, “On that film, I received $50,000 — and that was not my argument or my fight, because that’s what I signed up. Once I did all of my obligations, my deal was with a man named Lee Daniels. I did all of my contractual obligations, and I was done. Then, when I started getting calls from Lee Daniels, Tyler Perry, [producer] Oprah Winfrey, and [studio] Lionsgate, and they wanted me to come work for free. They wanted to … promote this film internationally. And I said to them, ‘Guys, my deal is with Lee Daniels, and I’ve done my job.’ And they all agreed! And this is what happens, in my humble opinion, when you don’t go up to the hotel room.”

Goldberg listened to Mo’Nique with her arms crossed, then interjected, “I’m going to stop you. Contractually, when you make a movie, regardless of who you signed with, your job is to promote said movie. So when they wanted you to come — and we’ve had this conversation — and I said, ‘If you had called me, I could have schooled you on what was expected.”

“And when we did have that conversation, what I said to you, my sweet sister, I said: Whoopi, at what point do we stop saying ‘the next time’? If I had done something wrong contractually, they would have sued me. The reason why no one could do anything to me contractually, because they found out I did nothing wrong contractually. So when they asked me to come overseas to promote the film, I said, ‘Guys, I’m spending time with my family, I’m gonna pass.’ … What Tyler Perry showed me, Lee Daniels, Oprah Winfrey and Lionsgate, is: When you don’t do what we ask you to do, we’ll take your livelihood. So for eight years, my family has suffered and my career has suffered because what I would not allow those entities to do was bully me.”

Goldberg, The View and Perry had no immediate comment.