Mo’Nique Claims She’s Been “Blackballed” By Hollywood

Though winning an Oscar is a career achievement to which many actors aspire, Mo'Nique claims it's not always as promising as it sounds. During an event honoring Hattie McDaniel — the first black actor to win an Oscar for her role in Gone With The Wind — Mo'Nique said Hollywood "blackballed" her following her 2009 win for Best Supporting Actress in Precious. (If you remember, she played the especially cruel mother of Gabourey Sidibe's Precious.) "How did the Oscar change my life? What it did was that it gave me a new reality. And, let me know that an award wasn't going to change my life — that I had to be in control of changing my life," she told The Hollywood Reporter at the event.  According to the actress, it was her acceptance speech that caused this alienation from the industry. In it, she said her win "[showed] that it can be about the performance and not the politics." "After I won that award, it was as if I had done something wrong," she told THR. "I thought, once you won the award, that's the top prize — and you're supposed to be treated as if you got the top prize." Instead, just about six months ago, Precious director Lee Daniels told her she'd been "blackballed," because she didn't "play the game." When Mo'Nique asked what game he was referring to, he reportedly didn't have a response. Daniels did, however, tell THR in a separate interview that it was Mo'Nique's "demands" throughout Precious that really alienated her. "[It] soured her relationship with the Hollywood community," he told THR. "I consider her a friend. I have and will always think of her for parts that we can collaborate on. However, the consensus among the creative teams and powers thus far were to go another way with these roles.” Mo'Nique echoes that sentiment, claiming every role she's been offered since her win was later revoked. "They all just went away." Still, she maintains a relatively positive attitude regarding the issue. "I can't be upset at anybody," she told THR. "Life is too good. It's just what it is." [The Hollywood Reporter]