The Academy Award-winning star's comedy special will premiere on Netflix April 4.
My Name Is Mo'Nique has been a long time in the making.
Mo'Nique began discussions with Netflix to film a special for the streamer back in 2017 before plans fell through and Mo'Nique subsequently filed a lawsuit claiming racial and gender discrimination. Three years later, the comedian and Netflix agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, "including without limitation all claims alleged therein, with prejudice, with each party to bear her or its own costs, expenses, and attorneys' fees." No further details of the settlement were disclosed.
"I think that things happen when they're supposed to," Mo'Nique tells ET's Nischelle Turner, musing on how it's been several years since she began conceiving the special. When thinking about how time might have changed what she would have originally used for the special, she notes, "Now, I'm a 55-year-old woman. I've seen more life [and] I've had more experiences. I'm even more unapologetic now than I was then. So I think that with life comes experience comes wisdom comes knowledge comes freedom... I have nothing to hide. I wear everything on my sleeve so I have nothing to hide."
"You know, sometimes people say, 'Well, why did you say that?' Because it's mine. And because it's mine, my experience, my journey, my walk, I can say it how I choose to," she continues. "I can say it when I want to because it is mine. So April 4, baby, the world will hear. It's mine to tell."
News of the comedy special marked a surprising, yet happy resolution to the years-long standoff between the star and the streamer.
In the November 2019 filing, the comedian alleged that when she and Netflix began discussions for the comedian to film a comedy special to air on the streamer, they made an offer that she found "biased, discriminatory." It was reportedly an opening offer of $500,000 for a one-hour show that Netflix would have complete control over, including owning the copyright and retaining all audio-only rights to the special.
"Netflix reportedly offered or paid Rock, Chappelle, DeGeneres and Gervais 40 times more per show than it offered Mo'Nique, and it offered Schumer 26 times more per show than Mo'Nique," the lawsuit alleged, according to CBS News. "In short, Netflix's offer to Mo'Nique perpetuates the drastic wage gap forced upon Black women in the American workforce."
"Despite Mo'Nique’s extensive résumé and documented history of comedic success, when Netflix presented her with an offer of employment for an exclusive stand-up comedy special, Netflix made a lowball offer that was only a fraction of what Netflix paid other (non-Black female) comedians,” the lawsuit claimed. "When the talent was not a Black woman, Netflix offered to pay, and did pay, astronomically more than it pays to Black women like it offered to Mo'Nique."
The suit also alleged a general pattern of gender and racial discrimination at the streamer, highlighting such instances as when Claire Foy was paid significantly less than Matt Smith for The Crown. It also referenced a $20-million deal for Ellen DeGeneres and a $40-million deal for Ricky Gervais.
At the time, Netflix said in a statement, "We care deeply about inclusion, equity and diversity and take any accusations of discrimination very seriously. We believe our opening offer to Mo'Nique was fair -- which is why we will be fighting this lawsuit."
Clearly, both parties were content enough with the settlement to enter into a new business agreement.
When it comes to the special, Mo'Nique says she went in with the intention to tell her raw truth, no matter how surprising audiences might find it. The comedian rebuffs the idea that her revelations are her "coming out," stating, "there's nothing for me to come out to."
"I would characterize this special as a woman being loved. And I'm interested to see the sisters that will walk away with fact," she shares, adding that she is "loved so well, so beautifully [and] so unconditionally that I'm free. I'm free. And if you really listened and you watched, there was nothing that came out, but you gotta pay attention. People will hear what they want to hear and not what's really being said."
That unconditional love is part of Mo'Nique's marriage to Sidney Hicks, whom she's been best friends with since she was 14 years old. The couple shares twin 17-year-old sons and Mo'Nique's 32-year-old son from her previous marriage to Mark Jackson.
"The same person he was [at] 14 years old is the same person he is at 55 years old," Mo'Nique tells ET, reflecting on how her husband has been by her side "through all the chapters" of her tumultuous journey. "The same friend he was [is] the same friend he is, so to say the support... he's a king. And a king, is a king, is a king. Don't change being a king. He's been consistent [from] 14 years old to 55 years old."
Sidney's support has been monumental through the jarring up and downs of her career, including the estrangement and recent reunion with her friend, Lee Daniels.
After winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her critically acclaimed performance as the titular character's abusive mother in 2009's Precious, the comedian made headlines when she claimed she was "blackballed" from Hollywood, naming Daniels as one of the culprits.
Nearly 13 years after their feud began, the duo revealed that they had mended fences onstage during her Mo'Nique and Friends: April Fools Day With the Queen of Comedy show in April 2022.
The two have cemented their newly reformed friendship with a new project, reuniting for the upcoming thriller, The Deliverance.
Mo’Nique will star as "a social worker who helps a family through a series of exorcisms" alongside Andra Day, Glenn Close, Aunjanue Ellis, Caleb McLaughlin, Tasha Smith, Omar Epps, Demi Singleton, Miss Lawrence and Anthony B. Jenkins. In the film, which is inspired by a terrifying true story, Day plays Ebony, a mother who fights for her life, her faith, and the souls of her children after discovering their new home is haunted by a demonic presence.
Although their reconciliation took over a decade, Mo'Nique shares that she and Lee naturally fell right back into their friendship. "When I tell you, we went for a walk one day... and he said, 'Someone asked me, was it awkward? You know, was it uncomfortable?' And he said, 'You know, when we got back together, it was as if we were never apart.' And that's what it was."
"We saw each other when he came to Staten Island in New York, it was as if we [were] never apart," she concludes. "That was my friend even those 13 years and he's still my friend. We talk, we do what we do."
My Name Is Mo'Nique premieres April 4 on Netflix.
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