Mo’Nique has spent the last few years coming for the necks of Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels and Tyler Perry in interviews, blaming them for her perceived Hollywood blackballing to the point that it’s now expected of her every time she lands an interview.
She dedicated what’s likely the most time ever publicly speaking about them during her nearly three-hour interview on “Club Shay Shay” with Shannon Sharpe, released Wednesday. Once again, Mo’Nique revealed that she has audio of Perry admitting that he blackballed her with rumors about her difficulty, admitting that it was wrong to do.
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The recorded call, which has a 2017 timestamp, appears to corroborate Mo’Nique’s claims, with Perry directly responding to her husband/manager Sidney Hicks when he asks Perry if he thought he was out of pocket for spreading rumors.
“I believe you are brilliantly talented and you should have a lot more happening since you won that award,” Perry said, presumably referencing Mo’Nique’s 2010 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in “Precious.”
“I thought for sure if you had campaigned…and played by their rules, I believe that in the next deal, you would’ve gotten more money, millions of dollars, and your career in the field would’ve been much different. I believe that much in your talent.”
Mo’Nique forced Sharpe to uncomfortably look at a camera and admit that he’d heard the audio; Sharpe simply invited Perry to come on “Club Shay Shay” to have a discussion with the three of them.
In keeping with her scorched earth name-dropping approach, Mo’Nique told Sharpe that she sent the audio to Rev. Al Sharpton, whom she said admitted Perry was wrong and agreed to reach out to him to hash things out; she said that she assumed that didn’t happen because she saw Sharpton later talk publicly about flying in Perry’s private jet.
She claimed Kevin Hart offered to broker peace between she and Perry before allegedly turning his back on her. Mo’Nique even evoked singer Stephanie Mills, whom she said told her that Perry would be willing to meet with her only under the condition that Hicks is not present and that she publicly apologizes for telling the world that Perry messed up her career.
Her latest reminder that Perry’s words allegedly cost her tens of millions of dollars in deals begs the question: Does she have any legal recourse to sue Perry?
The statute of limitations for civil suits related to defamation of character varies by state. But the more time elapses, it’s generally tougher to correlate the act to injury, and at least seven years of no suit filed while she’s letting everyone hear the audio likely wouldn’t bode well for her in court.
There’s also the legality of the audio – Mo’Nique said it’s a legal recording, but single-consent recorded conversations are legal in all but 11 states. So if she, for example, recorded the audio in California, it would be inadmissible and illegal.
Nothing about Mo’Nique’s movements suggests that she would attempt to sue Perry if she hasn’t already. It feels as if she’s attempting to do one or more of three things: Have as many people as possible believe that Perry is shady, shame him into cutting her a check (which won’t happen) or get him to finally come to the table for a talk (which also likely won’t happen if he hasn’t done it yet).
It all begs the question: If there’s no money to be obtained by continually speaking out against Perry and Winfrey, why does Mo’Nique continue to beat the dead billionaire horse?
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