Mo'Nique

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the comedian and actress. For the name, see Monique. For not to be confused with, see Nique.

Mo'Nique
Mo'Nique at the 82nd Academy Awards in 2010
Born
Monique Angela Imes

(1967-12-11) December 11, 1967 (age 56)
Woodlawn, Maryland, U.S.
Other namesMyelle Kaye
Occupations
  • Comedian
  • actress
  • talk show host
  • author
Years active1990–present
WorksFull list
Spouses
  • Calvin Watkins
    ​
    (divorced)​
  • Mark Jackson
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1997; div. 2001)​
  • Sidney Hicks
    ​
    (m. 2006)​
Children4
AwardsFull list
Websitemoniqueworldwide.com

Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes; born December 11, 1967), known mononymously as Mo'Nique, is an American stand-up comedian and actress.[1][2] She has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and a Grammy Award.

Mo'Nique first gained recognition for her work in stand-up comedy, debuting as a member of The Queens of Comedy. In 2002, she received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. She began her transition into mainstream film and television having a starring role as Nicole "Nikki" Parker in the UPN series The Parkers (1999–2004), as well as appearing in Phat Girlz (2006) and Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008).

In 2009, Mo'Nique garnered critical acclaim for her performance in the film Precious, for which she won numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the fourth African-American woman to win the award. She has since hosted The Mo'Nique Show (2009–2011), and starred as Ma Rainey in the HBO biopic Bessie (2015), earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Early life

Mo'Nique was born on December 11, 1967, in Woodlawn,

Milford Mill High School in Baltimore County in 1985[4] and attended Morgan State University.[5] She is a 1987 graduate of the Broadcasting Institute of Maryland.[6]

Before she was an actress, Monique worked as a customer service representative at the phone company MCI in Hunt Valley, Maryland.[7] She got her start in comedy at the downtown Baltimore Comedy Factory Outlet when her brother Steve dared her to perform at an open mic night.

During a 2008 Essence magazine interview, Mo'Nique revealed that she was sexually abused by her brother Gerald from ages 7 to 11; he went on to sexually abuse another girl and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. After her twin boys were born in 2005, Mo'Nique cut off all contact with Gerald. On April 19, 2010, he admitted on Oprah to sexually abusing her over several years. He also was abused by family members and struggled with substance abuse.[8]

Career

Mo'Nique portrayed Nicole "Nikki" Parker on the UPN television series

Thank God You're Here. Mo'Nique tackles race issues in her stand up routines, for instance at the Montreal Just For Laugh Festival in 2000: "White and black people, we're just mad at each other, we don't know why we're mad at each other. We're not each other's enemy. We're not the enemy. It's the Chinese people we need to watch out for".[9]

In 2005, Mo'Nique played a significant role in Tony Scott's thriller Domino, co-starring Keira Knightley and Mickey Rourke. In 2006, Mo'Nique was cast as the lead in Phat Girlz, a comedy about an aspiring fashion designer struggling to find love and acceptance. The film was met with lukewarm response from critics and fans. It did earn back its $3 million production cost in its first weekend of release.[10]

Mo'Nique at the 2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards

Mo'Nique's first play was

ABC Radio was in the process of getting renewed.[11]

She was also named hostess of

Saaphyri
as the winner. Mo'Nique's 2007 documentary I Coulda Been Your Cellmate! focuses on incarcerated women. In interviews with individual women, she touches on the common factors that bring many women into the penal system. The documentary was related to her filming a comedy special at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, also known as The Farm. In 2007, she had a guest-starring role on the hit television series Ugly Betty as L'Amanda, Mode's weekend security guard.[12] She starred in The Mo'Nique Show, her own late-night talk show. Taped in Atlanta, the show premiered October 5, 2009, on BET.[13]

She was featured in soul singer

Déjà Vu". Mo'Nique has had a number of supporting roles in film. She appeared in the 2008 comedy film, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins with Martin Lawrence. She has had roles in Beerfest, 3 Strikes, Two Can Play That Game, Half Past Dead, and Soul Plane. She voiced a character in Garfield: The Movie
, but her role was cut from the movie.

In 2008, Mo'Nique stated on

Urban Adult Contemporary-formatted R&B/soul radio stations in July 2008. It mainly aired on these stations that had a local lineup because some Radio One stations did not carry it due to their contracts with Michael Baisden. The show lasted until March 18, 2009, when Mo'Nique decided to leave to "further her career in television, film, and comedy."[15]

Mo'Nique giving a speech in 2010

In 2009, Mo'Nique appeared in the film

Precious, directed by Lee Daniels, portraying an inner-city teenager's abusive mother. She won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize for her performance in the film. The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) awarded Mo'Nique with the Best Supporting Actress Award in December 2009. Mo'Nique received the AAFCA's first ever unanimous vote in an acting category.[16]

She has received Best Supporting Actress awards from the

BAFTA Award.[17][18][19][20]

In November 2009, Mo'Nique said, "I own the rights to Hattie McDaniel's life story, and I can't wait to tell that story because that woman was absolutely amazing. She had to stand up to the adversity of black and white [society] at a time when we really weren't accepted. Mr. Lee Daniels is going to direct it, of course, and I'm going to be Miss Hattie McDaniel. I really hope I can do that woman justice."[21]

In 2014, Mo'Nique starred in

Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Her last role (in film or television) was in 2016. In May 2017, she said Lee Daniels, Oprah Winfrey, and Tyler Perry had been blackballing her ever since she did not promote Precious in 2009.[22][23]

In 2022, it was announced that Mo'Nique will be starring in the Lee Daniels' horror/thriller The Deliverance with Andra Day, Omar Epps, Miss Lawrence, and Tasha Smith.[24]

Personal life

Mo'Nique was married to sportswriter Calvin Watkins who she met in broadcasting school and had son Shalon Watkins, Jr. in 1990. She would later describe this marriage as abusive.[25][26] From 1997 to 2001, she was married to barber Mark Jackson. In October 2005, Mo'Nique gave birth to twin sons Jonathan and David Hicks two months before their due date.[27] In 2006, she married their father, Sidney Hicks. In a New York Times profile, she mentions that she and Hicks have an open marriage:

We have an agreement that we'll always be honest, and if sex happens with another person, that's not a deal breaker for us, that's not something where we'll have to say, 'Oh God, we've got to go to divorce court because you cheated on me.' Because we don't cheat.[28]

She repeated this view later on The Oprah Winfrey Show when she said that, in her prior marriages, she was constantly searching for "that extra oomph".[29] Mo'Nique explained,

When I said I had an open marriage, people automatically jumped to sex. They automatically went there. But I've been best friends with my husband since we were 14 years old. When we say open, we're very honest. There are no secrets. Oftentimes you have people that are married, but they're strangers, and we refuse to be those people.[30]

She concluded, "I've had to sneak and I've had to lie, and I don't want to do that anymore. But my husband is so awesome and so fine and so—oh, girl...No other man can compare".[30]

In her Netflix special My Name is Mo'Nique, released in April 2023, Mo'Nique disclosed that she experienced sexual attraction to women, stating that she was "not all the way" a lesbian, but that "when you're born with that, there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Nothing. And please understand that I tried."[31][32][33][34]

Controversy

2009 awards campaign

In 2009, Mo'Nique starred in the independent drama Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire directed by Lee Daniels. For the role, she was paid $50,000. The film started to receive critical attention and awards buzz for her performance. The film's executive producers Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey as well as the film's production company Lionsgate asked her to travel to promote the film at the Cannes Film Festival, which she declined to do, saying her deal was with the film's director, Daniels, and that she had finished her contractual obligations.[35]

Upon winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Mo'Nique stated, "I'd like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics".[36]

Mo'Nique has since claimed Tyler Perry called her to apologize for how she was treated. In 2020, Mo'Nique performed a standup segment attacking Perry, Oprah, and others involved in the feud. She has stated how devastated she was by Oprah's communication and described her as "malicious".[37][38][39]

2019 Netflix lawsuit

In 2018, Mo'Nique accused Netflix of racial and gender bias against her after she was paid $500,000 for her comedy special to air on the streaming service. She compared herself to Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, and Amy Schumer, who each received multimillion-dollar deals. In her statement, she stated:

When we asked Netflix to explain the difference—why the money was so different—they said, 'Well, we believe that's what Mo'Nique will bring.' We said, 'Well, what about my resume?' They said, 'We don't go off of resumes.' Then we asked them, 'What was it about Amy Schumer?' and they said, 'Well, she sold out Madison Square Garden twice and she had a big movie over the summer.' Is that not Amy Schumer's resume? And then Netflix said, 'By the way, we believe Mo'Nique is a legend, too.' Why shouldn't I get what the legends are getting?

In her statement, she also urged people to support her in her boycott of Netflix. She went on numerous talk shows, including The View, in which she continued to fight against Netflix. In 2019, she sued Netflix, with her complaint reading in part, "In short, as this lawsuit shows, Netflix's treatment of Mo'Nique began with a discriminatory low-ball offer and ended with a blacklisting act of retaliation." In the suit, she listed fellow comedians who were paid millions for their specials, including Chappelle, Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres, and Ricky Gervais.[40]

By June 2022, Netflix had settled the lawsuit with Mo'Nique, and on July 19, 2022, announced that she was set to do a new special for them.[41][42]

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Mo'Nique

Mo'nique is the recipient of numerous accolades, most notably, for her performance in Precious, winning a total of 52 awards out of 66 nominations; in particular, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture.

For her performance in The Parkers, Mo'nique has received four

Primetime Emmy Award for her work in the television film, Bessie, and a number of BET Awards
for her contribution to comedy productions.

Filmography

Film

Key
† Denotes works that have not yet been released
Year Title Role Notes
2000 3 Strikes Dahlia
2001 The Queens of Comedy Herself
Baby Boy Patrice
Two Can Play That Game Diedre
2002 Half Past Dead Twitch's Girl
2004 Soul Plane Jamiqua
Hair Show Peaches
Garfield: The Movie Rat Role deleted in final cut of the film
2005 Shadowboxer Precious
Domino Lateesha Rodriquez
2006 Farce of the Penguins Vicky Voice
Irish Jam Psycho
Phat Girlz Jazmin Biltmore
Beerfest Cherry
2008
Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins
 		Betty
2009 Steppin: The Movie Aunt Carla
Precious Mary Lee Johnston Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
2014 Blackbird Claire Rousseau
2015 Bessie Ma Rainey
2016 Interwoven Barbara
Almost Christmas Aunt May
2023 The Reading Emma Leeden Also executive producer
TBA The Deliverance † TBA Post-Production

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1995 Snaps Herself Episode 1.1
1999–2000 Moesha Nicole "Nikki" Parker Seasons 4 & 6 (3 episodes)
2001 The Hughleys Nicole "Nikki" Parker Season 3 (1 episode)
2002 The Proud Family Boonnetta Proud (voice) Season 2, (1 episode)
2003 Good Fences Ruth Crisp Television film
2004 The Bernie Mac Show Lynette Season 3 (1 episode)
1999–2004 The Parkers Nicole "Nikki" Parker Lead role (5 seasons, 110 episodes)
2005
Girlfriends
 		Host/Herself Cameo (episode S5 E16)
2005–2007 Mo'Nique's Fat Chance Host/Herself
2006 Rugrats Aunt Moo (voice) Direct-to-DVD episode "Tales from the Crib: Three Jacks and a Beanstalk"
2006 Nip/Tuck Evetta Washington Season 4 (
1 episode
)
2007 Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School Host/Herself 11 episodes
2007
The Game
 		Plus Size Actress, Host Seasons 2 and 4 (2 episodes)
2007 The Boondocks Jamiqua (voice) Season 2, Episode 1 (
1 episode
)
2007 Ugly Betty L'Amanda Season 2 (
1 episode
)
2009–2011 The Mo'Nique Show Host/Herself 2 seasons, 251 episodes
2014 Love & Hip Hop: New York Host/Herself Season 4 (
2 episodes
– Reunion Special)
2015 Bessie Ma Rainey Television film
2023 Black Mafia Family Goldie Season 2, Episodes 1 & 3

Specials

Tours

Residency show

  • 2019: Mo'Nique Does Vegas (held at
    SLS Las Vegas)[43]

References

  1. ^ a b "Mo'Nique | Golden Globes". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  2. ^ Fernandez, Sofia M. (August 1, 2011). "'Mo'Nique Show' Put on Indefinite Hiatus". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  3. ^ John-Hall, Annette (April 8, 2006). "Proudly 'phat' actress has a new, plus-sized role". AZ Central.com. Retrieved December 16, 2009.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "monique imes Milford Mill High School/Academy '85 BALTIMORE, MD". classmates.com. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  5. ^ Crockett, Sandra (November 19, 1994). "Comedian has fine time just being Mo'Nique Laughing out LOUD". The Sun. Archived from the original on July 24, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2009.
  6. ^ "Broadcasting Institute of Maryland". Archived from the original on February 27, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  7. ^ The Oprah Winfrey Show, Interview with the cast of Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. Original air date January 28, 2008.
  8. ^ "Mo'Nique's Brother, Gerald Imes, Apologizes to Precious Star for Sexual Abuse". ABC News. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  9. ^ "Montreal Just For Laugh Festival 2000". YouTube. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  10. ^ "IMDb Bottom 100". IMDb.
  11. ^ "Monique to Fill in for Michael Baisden". All Access. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  12. ^ "Mo'Nique to Guest Star on Ugly Betty". September 28, 2007. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
  13. ^ BET Coming Soon Monique Show Official Page Archived October 2, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ "Martin Lawrence's Advice to Mo'Nique". Oprah.com. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  15. ^ "Syndicated Personality Mo'Nique to End Mo'Nique Show". Radio Online. Archived from the original on March 17, 2009. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
  16. ^ "2009 Supporting Actress". The Film Experience. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009.
  17. ^ "The Hurt Locker Schools An Education, Avatar at Brit-Snubbing BAFTAs". E!. February 22, 2010.
  18. ^ "2009 Supporting Actress". The Film Experience. Archived from the original on April 9, 2009.
  19. ^ "OSCAR PREDICTION CHARTS". InContention.com. February 23, 2009.
  20. ^ "Will Sandra Bullock, Mo'Nique Meet Their New Man, 'Oscar'". Lexib.net. Archived from the original on February 16, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2010.
  21. ^ Ben; Walters (November 15, 2009). "Comic Mo'Nique takes dramatic turn in "Precious"". Reuters.
  22. ^ "Today in Entertainment: Katy Perry cops to that Taylor Swift feud; Vanity Fair's 'Star Wars' covers cue the waterworks". Los Angeles Times. June 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  23. ^ "Mo'Nique: I Was "Blackballed" After Winning My Oscar". The Hollywood Reporter. February 19, 2015.
  24. ^ Jones, Monique. "Lee Daniels' 'The Deliverance,' Starring Mo'Nique After Years-Long Feud, Adds Omar Epps, Miss Lawrence And More To Cast". Shadow and Act. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
  25. ISBN 978-0-7432-4456-5
    .
  26. ^ Yarbrough, Marti (November 11, 2002). "Actress and comedienne Mo'Nique of the Parkers talks about her: career new book 'Skinny Women are Evil' new fiance". JET Magazine.
  27. ^ "Mo'Nique a New Mom Again – of Twins". People. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  28. ^ Lee, Felicia R. (August 5, 2007). "Luckily, There's Plenty of Her for Everybody". The New York Times. p. 2.
  29. ^ Sheri Salata (Producer). (January 28, 2008). The Oprah Winfrey Show. Chicago: Harpo Productions, Inc.
  30. ^ a b "Mo'Nique on her open marriage". Oprah.com. Archived from the original on January 31, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
  31. ^ Griffin, Marc (April 6, 2023). "Mo'Nique Recalls Telling Husband About Sexual Fantasies With Women: "The Mask Had To Come Off"". VIBE.com. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  32. ^ Duncan, Charlie (April 7, 2023). "Mo'Nique comes out as queer and slams religion for 'ripping apart families'". PinkNews. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  33. ^ Bell, BreAnna (April 6, 2023). "In Netflix Special, Mo'Nique Recounts Confessing 'Fantasy' of Being With Another Woman to Her Husband: 'The Mask Had to Come Off'". Variety. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  34. ^ Phillips, Carmen (April 5, 2023). "Mo'Nique Grapples With Her Queer Desires, Fear, and Coming Out In New Netflix Special". Autostraddle. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  35. ^ "Mo'Nique On Why She's Calling For A Netflix Boycott on The View". Youtube. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  36. ^ "Mo'Nique winning Best Supporting Actress". Oscars. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  37. ^ "She's Not Done: Mo'Nique Explains Devastating Fallout With Oprah Winfrey". Essence. October 26, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  38. ^ "Mo'Nique Says She Recorded Tyler Perry Expressing Regret Over How He Treated Her". Complex. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  39. ^ "Mo'Nique Speaks Out Against Oprah Winfrey for Making Her Life Harder". E News. February 4, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  40. ^ "Mo'Nique Sues Netflix for Discrimination Over $500K Stand-Up Special Offer". The Hollywood Reporter. November 14, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  41. ^ "Netflix Settles With Mo'Nique Over Discrimination, Retaliation Lawsuit". The Hollywood Reporter. June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 17, 2022.
  42. ^ "Oscar Winner Mo'Nique Announces First Netflix Comedy Special". Variety. July 19, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  43. ^ Brock Radke (January 10, 2019). "MO'NIQUE KICKS OFF HER FIRST VEGAS COMEDY RESIDENCY AT SLS". lasvegasweekly.com. Retrieved February 12, 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mo'Nique.
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