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Mo'Nique Interview · The Breakfast Club

0:01
Speaker 1: Real people, real celebrity joined the Breakfast Morning. Everybody is
0:08
Speaker 1: DJ Mvy, Angela Yee, Charlomagne the guy. We are the
0:11
Speaker 1: Breakfast Club. We have a special guest with us this morning.
0:14
Speaker 1: I don't even know, just calling one of the queens
0:16
Speaker 1: of comedy. You seem like you do so much more
0:18
Speaker 1: than that. Now, hey baby, good morning. She came in
0:23
Speaker 1: here on nights. I thought she was gonna come in
0:25
Speaker 1: and yell at us or something. Wow, Now I'm just kidding.
0:28
Speaker 1: She said, your reputation procede you. Everybody think you're difficult
0:32
Speaker 1: and angry all the time. For the folks that know me,
0:34
Speaker 1: they know that's that's truly a joke. Absolutely, I'm a
0:36
Speaker 1: simming this baby, don't know me too well kidding, I
0:42
Speaker 1: think you were going to really do that. Actually, I've
0:43
Speaker 1: seen a lot of your interviews lately, yes, and it
0:46
Speaker 1: does seem a little odd that people would act like
0:48
Speaker 1: you were so difficult and angry all the time. Obviously,
0:50
Speaker 1: we know you as a comedian first, you know, always
0:53
Speaker 1: pretty funny, and then we've seen you do some great
0:55
Speaker 1: acting roles. We've seen your you know, your own TV show,
0:58
Speaker 1: your own stock show. So I was like, where did
1:00
Speaker 1: this come from? You know, well, angry is the first
1:02
Speaker 1: time I've heard that word, and that's that's new for
1:05
Speaker 1: me this morning. The difficulty, I think comes in when
1:09
Speaker 1: they're used to hearing people say yes, and the moment
1:12
Speaker 1: you get that no, that can be considered difficult aboutely
1:15
Speaker 1: because if we're normally getting the yes and we run
1:18
Speaker 1: into the person that says no, that could be a
1:20
Speaker 1: little difficult that I'm not going to change my note
1:23
Speaker 1: toy yes, So I can see how people would say
1:25
Speaker 1: that absolutely that what you're saying no, you said you
1:28
Speaker 1: got that actually from Martin. Martin gave you some great advice.
1:31
Speaker 1: You know. When we did Roscoe Jenkins, that brother pulled
1:34
Speaker 1: me in his trailer and he said, Monique, don't ever
1:37
Speaker 1: let them tell you what you can't have. Now his
1:39
Speaker 1: trailer was a three floor penhouse. Okay, baby laid out,
1:43
Speaker 1: and as we were talking, that brother was just giving
1:46
Speaker 1: me that kind of brotherly and sisterly love, saying, they
1:48
Speaker 1: will tell you no, they will tell you it's impossible.
1:52
Speaker 1: Don't let them tell you what you can't have. As
1:54
Speaker 1: I'm standing in his three story penhouse trailer, now, let
1:57
Speaker 1: me ask you question as as our people black people
2:00
Speaker 1: say black people were scaring say black say black black
2:02
Speaker 1: people people. It feels like we're scared to say no.
2:06
Speaker 1: It feels like sometimes that when we get something, it
2:09
Speaker 1: feels like entitlement. You see that a lot with us,
2:11
Speaker 1: because no matter what it is, it seems like if
2:14
Speaker 1: somebody gives us something, we're like, okay, thank you, instead
2:16
Speaker 1: of saying no, that's not my value, that's not my worth. Well,
2:18
Speaker 1: I think historically we've done that, you know. I think
2:21
Speaker 1: that when you come from a place where we've never
2:24
Speaker 1: gotten any money to then we're gonna get a little
2:26
Speaker 1: bit of money and we're just grateful for that little
2:28
Speaker 1: bit of money. Then you have the people saying, well, no,
2:31
Speaker 1: we need our worth, and you still have those people
2:33
Speaker 1: saying we should just be happy with what we're getting.
2:37
Speaker 1: So it's not something that's new, it's something historically that
2:40
Speaker 1: has always happened. So to say do I see it now, well,
2:43
Speaker 1: we've always seen it. If we've been paying attention. Do
2:46
Speaker 1: you have a problem with like you say no, yes,
2:49
Speaker 1: and then another comedian who's doesn't care about their value
2:53
Speaker 1: or that's really just trying to trip you, we'll say
2:55
Speaker 1: yes and get that job, and that could have been
2:56
Speaker 1: something that maybe you could have got or something that
2:58
Speaker 1: would have been big for you, but you said no
3:00
Speaker 1: when they undercut you. Does that happen a lot to you? Well,
3:03
Speaker 1: I don't think it's a thing of undercutting. You know.
3:04
Speaker 1: If you read Lewis Gotsi's book, Lewis goots said, what
3:08
Speaker 1: Hollywood does understand what one won't do, another one will.
3:12
Speaker 1: So oftentimes you'll see us taking roles because when we
3:16
Speaker 1: take a stand and say I can't accept that you
3:19
Speaker 1: have to pay me what my resume says I'm worth, well,
3:21
Speaker 1: they say, well, you know what another one will. And
3:24
Speaker 1: I don't fault that other one, whoever that other one is,
3:26
Speaker 1: because I don't know that situation. So for whatever reason
3:30
Speaker 1: someone says yes I will, I can't judge it because
3:33
Speaker 1: I don't know it. I only know mine. And there
3:35
Speaker 1: are certain things that you have to say, we got
3:37
Speaker 1: a order line in the sand, because if not, my
3:40
Speaker 1: sweet sister, your opportunities wouldn't come to you the way
3:42
Speaker 1: that they do and for the next sister. So I
3:45
Speaker 1: think that's what this is all bawling down to. You
3:47
Speaker 1: have some that will and something that won't. What about
3:49
Speaker 1: all the independent movies that people are making that what
3:51
Speaker 1: if there's truly no budget, but you think it's a
3:52
Speaker 1: great script, but they can't pay you your resume? You know,
3:56
Speaker 1: then can you say, Okay, you know what, this is
3:58
Speaker 1: actually a great opportunity. I love it. I underst and
4:00
Speaker 1: that you're a new you know, you don't have the funding.
4:02
Speaker 1: I'm down, you know what. That's a great point, says
4:05
Speaker 1: And with Blackbird, the movie that's coming out Friday, April
4:08
Speaker 1: twenty fourth, it's independent and the reason why Sitney and
4:12
Speaker 1: I really wanted to be a part of it was
4:13
Speaker 1: number one, the message was amazing and it's amazing. Sitney,
4:17
Speaker 1: my husband and we were able to executive produce it.
4:20
Speaker 1: And we have real ownership, right So when you're that
4:22
Speaker 1: passionate about something and you say, I'll not take the
4:26
Speaker 1: full money upfront, but we own some of that. So
4:29
Speaker 1: in success, we will reap the benefits. As long as
4:32
Speaker 1: you see that movie, wherever you see it, we reap
4:35
Speaker 1: the benefits from it. Sometimes what happens is you'll see
4:39
Speaker 1: something over and over and over again, but we reap
4:41
Speaker 1: the benefit one time, then somebody else continues to reap
4:45
Speaker 1: that benefit. So for us, we appreciate the independent route
4:49
Speaker 1: because it gives us ownership of our image and our likeness,
4:52
Speaker 1: and they should appreciate that too, because and that means
4:54
Speaker 1: you believed in it so much that you're like, I
4:56
Speaker 1: want to put my name on this, I want to
4:57
Speaker 1: be involved. I know that my name and my skills
5:00
Speaker 1: are going to help take this to the next level,
5:01
Speaker 1: and we all get paid. You know. I think it's
5:03
Speaker 1: a mutual respect all the way around. You know, it's
5:06
Speaker 1: not one doing something for the other, it's we're doing
5:08
Speaker 1: something for each other, and we believe in the project.
5:11
Speaker 1: So let's get married together in this business deal and
5:14
Speaker 1: make it happen. It's easier to do that when you
5:15
Speaker 1: got the money, though, it's easier to do be independent. Well.
5:19
Speaker 1: You know, when you're independent, just like anything else, you
5:21
Speaker 1: go for funding, You go for investors, just like you're
5:24
Speaker 1: going to the studio. The studio is an investor. Now
5:27
Speaker 1: they get mostly all and then something back. But when
5:30
Speaker 1: you go independently, it's no different. You're going to those investors,
5:33
Speaker 1: those people to fund it. Now, what made you want
5:35
Speaker 1: to make Blackbird? Do you have somebody like in your
5:37
Speaker 1: family that's dealing with sexual identity issues? I think that
5:40
Speaker 1: every single person that's listening to every one of y'all,
5:42
Speaker 1: every one of us has somebody in our family that's
5:45
Speaker 1: dealing with or has dealt with their sexuality. And the
5:48
Speaker 1: reason why Blackbird was so important is because so many
5:52
Speaker 1: of our babies are struggling with trying to accept who
5:55
Speaker 1: they are and be accepted. Because in this day and age,
5:59
Speaker 1: you have people still struggling with something that makes you say,
6:03
Speaker 1: I can't believe we're still fighting with other human beings
6:07
Speaker 1: just to be the way they are. So with Blackbird,
6:10
Speaker 1: this is a story about a young brother coming up
6:12
Speaker 1: in a Deep South seventeen years old in high school
6:15
Speaker 1: on a roll student, a really good guy, but he's
6:18
Speaker 1: fighting with the sexuality because he's been raised in a
6:21
Speaker 1: strict Christian upbringing that it's a sin, you're condemned to hell,
6:25
Speaker 1: you are a disgrace if you are a homosexual. So
6:29
Speaker 1: you see this baby trying to deal with that. His mother,
6:31
Speaker 1: the character that I play, she's one of those women
6:34
Speaker 1: that she believes everything in the Bible, she believes everything
6:36
Speaker 1: on that pulpit. So to her to find out that
6:39
Speaker 1: her baby is gay and then she's still fighting the
6:41
Speaker 1: abduction of her daughter. Oh baby, she thinks that little
6:45
Speaker 1: boy has disgraced the family, going to hell. He is
6:48
Speaker 1: the worst creature on the face of this earth trying
6:51
Speaker 1: to deal with fat So you see the dynamic behind
6:54
Speaker 1: the duor. Isaiah Washington, who is absolutely brilliant, plays the
6:58
Speaker 1: dad in this movie. And only when you see a
7:00
Speaker 1: dad on TV plane, a father to a gay son,
7:03
Speaker 1: it's the church stereotypical. I hate you how it's the
7:08
Speaker 1: exact It is the exact opposent, and Isaiah Washington loves
7:14
Speaker 1: his baby through it. So we appreciative to show that
7:17
Speaker 1: character and not unique. There are fathers that love their
7:20
Speaker 1: sons through it, loved their daughters through it, but we
7:22
Speaker 1: just don't get a chance to see it. So it's
7:24
Speaker 1: one of those films that we believe will change hearts,
7:27
Speaker 1: open minds, and start different conversation, different conversations in our churches. Yes,
7:32
Speaker 1: my life, what made you want to take on another struggle?
7:34
Speaker 1: Because you're black, your female, you got your own issues
7:37
Speaker 1: in America? What made you want to deal with the
7:38
Speaker 1: issue of the issues homosexual homosexual face? You know, because
7:42
Speaker 1: it's just the issue of love. And when I was
7:45
Speaker 1: sixteen years old, I was introduced to that culture with
7:49
Speaker 1: some beautiful young gay black brothers and they all have
7:53
Speaker 1: the same story most of them. Did you know, I
7:56
Speaker 1: was thrown away the church don't want me no more?
7:59
Speaker 1: And their ruggling to find their place. Now most of
8:02
Speaker 1: those brothers are gone today. So during this movie was
8:05
Speaker 1: truly my love letter to those brothers saying we hope
8:09
Speaker 1: this makes a difference. And the brother playing the character,
8:12
Speaker 1: the star of the movie, Julian Walker, when I tell y'all,
8:15
Speaker 1: this baby was so brave and so courageous and so
8:19
Speaker 1: fearless because to take on that role and he didn't
8:23
Speaker 1: know to be afraid. It's the first thing he's ever done.
8:25
Speaker 1: Just like Gabaree, Citabey and Precious got the same feelings
8:28
Speaker 1: with that baby. With this baby, to take on such
8:31
Speaker 1: a role and not be concerned about what people might
8:34
Speaker 1: think and just give it its honesty. It is something
8:38
Speaker 1: to see that you and Lee Daniels cool because it's
8:40
Speaker 1: not right his alley. You know, I'm gonna say this,
8:42
Speaker 1: Lee Daniels and I are cool. It's one of those
8:45
Speaker 1: things when you know how you have a friend and
8:47
Speaker 1: a friend go to a left a little bit and
8:49
Speaker 1: you wait for him to come on back over. That's
8:51
Speaker 1: what it is. I'm just waiting for him to come
8:52
Speaker 1: on back over. That's come on back over, and you
8:57
Speaker 1: would work with him again. Yes, I think Lee Daniels
9:00
Speaker 1: is one of the most brilliant visionaries of our generation.
9:03
Speaker 1: Right now, why did you feel to need to show
9:05
Speaker 1: the emails about being offered the role of Cookie because
9:07
Speaker 1: they was lying on you because my character was in
9:09
Speaker 1: question and I took pride of my character. Now, if
9:12
Speaker 1: people who just joined us that they don't understand you
9:14
Speaker 1: were offered the role yes, Cookie, Yes, and yet the
9:17
Speaker 1: emails to prove it. But you know, on the other side,
9:19
Speaker 1: they were saying she was never offered that role. So
9:22
Speaker 1: it kind of made you look like girl. Didn't make
9:23
Speaker 1: me look crazy, y'all know, Mama ain't crazy. Yeah, that
9:33
Speaker 1: was it. It was. It was when mister Strong made
9:35
Speaker 1: the statement she was never offered the role and that
9:38
Speaker 1: never happened. It's like, as I have the communication here, right, so,
9:41
Speaker 1: I don't want to play that game, but I have
9:43
Speaker 1: to say, when you're putting something out that is not
9:46
Speaker 1: true and it's an attack on my character, let me
9:49
Speaker 1: show you what it is. So explain what happened. Break
9:51
Speaker 1: it down. So you got to offer the role, yes, Empire,
9:53
Speaker 1: of course Cookie, And then what happened got off with
9:56
Speaker 1: the role of Empire for Cookie and normally the way
9:59
Speaker 1: Leon I do business. When he called me for Shadowboxer,
10:02
Speaker 1: it was a call from Lee. Hey my mom got
10:05
Speaker 1: this part. I want you to play, No problem, send
10:07
Speaker 1: me the script. That's it. Attorneys get involved, we do
10:10
Speaker 1: the deal. Same thing with Prescious. Hey my mom got
10:13
Speaker 1: this role, want you to do it? We call attorneys,
10:16
Speaker 1: get involved. Deal is done. Well. It was no difference
10:19
Speaker 1: with this one. That's how we've always done business. Hey
10:22
Speaker 1: my mom got this role for you. It's Cookie for
10:24
Speaker 1: this pilot. I'm doing Empire. We laughed and joked about it,
10:27
Speaker 1: talked about it, got the size for it. He's sitting there, listen,
10:30
Speaker 1: you need to do this technical thing, this screen testing,
10:33
Speaker 1: because it's TV and you know I don't know too
10:35
Speaker 1: much about TV. No problem, brother, that's my boy. I'm
10:39
Speaker 1: gonna do it. While when we were waiting to get
10:41
Speaker 1: the date to do the screen tests, that's when all
10:44
Speaker 1: the confusion begin to come in. Cauls weren't being returned.
10:47
Speaker 1: It's like, Hey, what's happening? When I finally get a call,
10:50
Speaker 1: he says, listen, Fox said, you're difficult. I said, I'm difficult,
10:55
Speaker 1: he said, And I told them, let you be my difficulty.
10:58
Speaker 1: I said, brother, while, but you tell them that you're
11:00
Speaker 1: not never had any problems with each other. He was like, well,
11:03
Speaker 1: they just want to go with to Rogie p Henson. Hey,
11:06
Speaker 1: she's gonna knock it out the part, no problem, I said,
11:08
Speaker 1: but don't put it out there that your girl is difficult.
11:11
Speaker 1: He said, well, you know I can't let you mess
11:13
Speaker 1: with my money. Go get it, baby. That was what
11:16
Speaker 1: our conversation was. So when I see my brother going
11:18
Speaker 1: on TV and he says things that he know it's
11:21
Speaker 1: not true, it's like, just tell the conversation that we had.
11:25
Speaker 1: That's all. It's not right, wrong, or indifferent. Just tell
11:28
Speaker 1: the conversation that we had. You think you should have
11:30
Speaker 1: had your back though, you know, I mean you think
11:31
Speaker 1: you should have really, because 'all did movies with maybe
11:33
Speaker 1: his hands. Though. I don't want to mess with anybody's money.
11:38
Speaker 1: And if they're saying, listen, we're not gonna use her,
11:41
Speaker 1: we're not gonna do it with her. I don't want
11:43
Speaker 1: to mess with my brother's money, and to Rogie p
11:45
Speaker 1: Henson is the baddest Cookie Lions that television could ever see.
11:49
Speaker 1: So the person that was supposed to get it got it.
11:52
Speaker 1: But it has nothing to do with that. It's the
11:54
Speaker 1: principle of you putting it out there that it never happened.
11:57
Speaker 1: When you see that road, do you think that you
11:58
Speaker 1: could have pulled it off as good as you know? Again,
12:02
Speaker 1: my sister is killing it. There's no comparison. She's killing it.
12:06
Speaker 1: It's almost like, once you see somebody doing it, could
12:09
Speaker 1: anybody else be jj? Could anybody else have been nicky Poker?
12:14
Speaker 1: So when you see it, it's like there's no one
12:16
Speaker 1: else that could have been Cookie Lions of it than
12:18
Speaker 1: to Roger PN's Well, it's great that you've been coming
12:20
Speaker 1: out now and letting people know what really went down
12:22
Speaker 1: behind the scenes, because people were thinking, oh, maybe she's difficult.
12:25
Speaker 1: People don't want to work with her. So now are
12:26
Speaker 1: the offers pouring in? Well, you know the offers. When
12:30
Speaker 1: you say they pouring in, they never stopped coming. The
12:32
Speaker 1: scripts never stopped coming. Okay, they just didn't make sense,
12:35
Speaker 1: So there was no black ball that happened. That's the confusion.
12:38
Speaker 1: They say you black ball, But then you getting all
12:39
Speaker 1: these scripts offer there was no black I never said
12:41
Speaker 1: I was black ball. That was Lee Daniel's perception. And
12:44
Speaker 1: I tell people you have to actually Daniels about that,
12:47
Speaker 1: because it never stopped on my end. The reason why
12:50
Speaker 1: you hadn't seen me is because it just didn't make sense.
12:54
Speaker 1: And had I taken those roles and taking those offers,
12:57
Speaker 1: what do we leave for the sister coming behind us? Right?
13:01
Speaker 1: Got it? Go ahead? Monique's been around a long time.
13:05
Speaker 1: I'm sure this is your first time seeing how shady
13:07
Speaker 1: the industry is. But you know what, baby, it's life.
13:17
Speaker 1: It's not just Hollywood, It's it's across the board, and
13:21
Speaker 1: you just deal with it accordingly. And you have to
13:23
Speaker 1: ask the question, will you be willing to take a
13:25
Speaker 1: stand or will you consider to stay in the shade?
13:28
Speaker 1: Do you think that a lot of black people we
13:30
Speaker 1: take opportunity over money because we feel like it's not
13:32
Speaker 1: a lot of opportunity out there for us. We say, oh,
13:34
Speaker 1: we at least if I get in this position in
13:36
Speaker 1: the next person, you'll get paid. You know. That's that's
13:38
Speaker 1: a great question, And I think it really depends on
13:41
Speaker 1: the situation. You know, again, I can't judge anyone's situation,
13:45
Speaker 1: but I really think it depends on the situation at hand.
13:49
Speaker 1: You know, there was a story about this brother, Kirk
13:51
Speaker 1: flood Um baseball player, and I hope I'm saying this
13:54
Speaker 1: name correctly. And because of that brother is why we
13:57
Speaker 1: have free agency. And doing his time period, he was
14:01
Speaker 1: taking a stands in you're not paying us for our worth,
14:05
Speaker 1: and there were other players saying just be quiet and
14:08
Speaker 1: accepted because we've gotten an opportunity. Well, that man died,
14:13
Speaker 1: broke and ill, and then when they did the documentary
14:17
Speaker 1: documentary on him, all the players said that was alive
14:20
Speaker 1: during that time and played with him. He was right.
14:24
Speaker 1: We was just too afraid that we would get shut
14:27
Speaker 1: out and we had to feed our families. So again,
14:30
Speaker 1: you don't know people's situations, but it's just unfortunate. It
14:33
Speaker 1: takes some of us to leave here for people that
14:35
Speaker 1: didn't say they were right. Absolutely. Now, when you won
14:38
Speaker 1: the Academy award, was that a gift or was it
14:41
Speaker 1: a curse? Or was it both? It was appreciated, and
14:45
Speaker 1: any award I've ever won, I'm appreciative of it, But
14:49
Speaker 1: it wasn't the Academy that was that award that made
14:52
Speaker 1: me feel like this is that award. And I find
14:55
Speaker 1: it interesting because when we speak about what black people
14:58
Speaker 1: do and don't do, even when I come to us
15:01
Speaker 1: to do the interviews, no one's ever asked me how
15:04
Speaker 1: I felt the night that I'm won the Image Award,
15:07
Speaker 1: which is ours. No one's ever put value into our award.
15:11
Speaker 1: It's always the Oscar and I understand it because we've
15:14
Speaker 1: been conditioned to believe that's it. That's what I say
15:17
Speaker 1: about the Grammys when I see all these rappers and
15:19
Speaker 1: stuff there. I didn't even win a Grammar in the Grammy,
15:21
Speaker 1: but you don't feel that you don't even show up
15:22
Speaker 1: to the the b T Hip hop awards are to be
15:24
Speaker 1: when they call your neighbor. That's accept your award for you.
15:28
Speaker 1: It's like the moment we put value into us is
15:32
Speaker 1: the moment it becomes valuable. With the elbow point when
15:36
Speaker 1: you won out of school, you really was feeling yourself
15:38
Speaker 1: like I am the hit right now. No, baby, you
15:49
Speaker 1: know being an actress is something that literally fell in
15:51
Speaker 1: my lap. But you're from the bottom though, like you
15:53
Speaker 1: was a stand up comic. Is that I'm never head, baby,
16:04
Speaker 1: don't make me bring Drake to the show. Don't do
16:07
Speaker 1: it from the stage comments, Yes, they come up from
16:13
Speaker 1: that stage. Win the Academy award. That's a big big deal,
16:17
Speaker 1: you know. To to win any award is a big
16:20
Speaker 1: big deal for me because whenever they call my name,
16:24
Speaker 1: I'm that little girl standing in my bathroom mirror saying,
16:28
Speaker 1: one day with a brush in my hand and a
16:30
Speaker 1: tail around my body, I'm that little girl. And I
16:33
Speaker 1: don't care what award it is, but the trophies that
16:35
Speaker 1: I'm really appreciative of. My son's football trophy. Talk about
16:42
Speaker 1: one is twenty five. Michael's eleven, and the twins David
16:45
Speaker 1: and Jonathan are nine. Now, y'all gotta understand why the
16:48
Speaker 1: football trophies are the biggest trophies and the hits residence
16:51
Speaker 1: because Michael is a superstar football player. Baby. He runs
16:55
Speaker 1: all around these children, touchdowns, tackles. He's getting it. But
16:59
Speaker 1: the twins, okay, they don't. They don't really do it
17:03
Speaker 1: like that. So when they got their trophies, we were
17:06
Speaker 1: so proud. We were like, these on the trophies right here, baby.
17:11
Speaker 1: But now did I show off with those trophies? Yes?
17:14
Speaker 1: I did. I called all my friends and said, y'all
17:16
Speaker 1: don't even want to see none of this, baby, the
17:18
Speaker 1: Hicks Brothers trophy. Do you ever think about going and
17:22
Speaker 1: doing another stand up comedy tour about That's the same
17:24
Speaker 1: thing I've never stopped. I've never stopped like a full tour.
17:28
Speaker 1: Like before I came here to New York, I was
17:30
Speaker 1: in cents a Tucky doing the improfit Censor Tucky. Okay,
17:35
Speaker 1: it's Cincinnati and Kentucky, baby, but crossed the street over
17:40
Speaker 1: on the other and they call it Censor Tucky. I
17:43
Speaker 1: was confused to listen, baby, that don't sound like a
17:45
Speaker 1: difficult person to me. Let me tell you, I love
17:48
Speaker 1: that circuit because it gives me the opportunity to say
17:52
Speaker 1: thank you, and it gives me the opportunity to continue
17:55
Speaker 1: to say no to things that just don't make sense.
17:58
Speaker 1: And when I was listening to Richard Pryor, Richard Pryor's
18:03
Speaker 1: best work and my humble opinion for me, was in
18:05
Speaker 1: the clubs. It was when it was intimate, right there
18:09
Speaker 1: in your face. You could feel that I'm smoking, you
18:11
Speaker 1: can feel I'm drinking, you can feel the waitresses. That
18:14
Speaker 1: was the best for me, and I love that intimacy.
18:17
Speaker 1: I love being on that club stage, and we are
18:19
Speaker 1: right there together even after all of that, and they
18:22
Speaker 1: say more, why would you come back to the clubs?
18:24
Speaker 1: Because I can and I'm supposed to. And it's my
18:27
Speaker 1: way of saying thank you and thank y'all for letting
18:30
Speaker 1: me to continue to say no to things that don't
18:32
Speaker 1: make sense. That means you're making a lot of money
18:34
Speaker 1: in them clubs. This HBO. Bessie said, yeah, what is Bessie?
18:44
Speaker 1: What is this? Blacks? Where the black balling coming from?
18:46
Speaker 1: You're getting all his working man? Now, now you could
18:52
Speaker 1: day the face that's the playground face. I don't know.
18:56
Speaker 1: They said mean things about me in the sind ybe No,
19:00
Speaker 1: they don't want to get on the sea saw with me.
19:02
Speaker 1: I go no. You know again, you know how they say,
19:06
Speaker 1: don't believe everything you hear and half of what you see.
19:10
Speaker 1: It was so easy to jump to the negative. It
19:13
Speaker 1: was so easy. And people said, Monique, how do you
19:15
Speaker 1: feel that some of your peers or people were saying
19:18
Speaker 1: this and that. I said, y'all, I'm no different than
19:21
Speaker 1: the sister that working the burger king. Somebody started a
19:24
Speaker 1: rumor and it kept spreading and it went to all
19:27
Speaker 1: the burger kings in that region, and no one came
19:29
Speaker 1: to the sister that was frying to god dag on
19:31
Speaker 1: burgers and asked her, what really happened? Did you really
19:35
Speaker 1: drop the burger on the floor and put it back
19:36
Speaker 1: in the bun and give it to the president of
19:38
Speaker 1: the company. No one ever took the time out to ask.
19:41
Speaker 1: So it's just being able to say for what really happened.
19:45
Speaker 1: And I appreciate the brothers and sisters to say, mo,
19:48
Speaker 1: what happened instead of jumping to that place of this
19:52
Speaker 1: is what went down and we know it. Bessie Smith
19:59
Speaker 1: was one of the greatest blue singers of our time,
20:03
Speaker 1: of that time, and Queen Latifa plays Bessie Smith. And
20:09
Speaker 1: when I tell y'all that, in my humble opinion, it
20:14
Speaker 1: is her best performance to date because she is Bessie Smith.
20:18
Speaker 1: Remember how Jamie was Rachel. Queen Latifa is Bessie Smith.
20:23
Speaker 1: It's scary. I mean, this sister is so amazing in
20:28
Speaker 1: this role that you. As I was watching her, I'm like,
20:31
Speaker 1: go here, girl and do your thing. And it just
20:34
Speaker 1: tells her life story. And I get the opportunity to
20:37
Speaker 1: play a character named my Rainie and I never heard
20:39
Speaker 1: of this woman until I read the script. Just goes
20:42
Speaker 1: to show you that we gotta dig for our history
20:44
Speaker 1: because they don't tell her to us in schools. My
20:47
Speaker 1: Rainie was Bessie Smith's mentor. And you get a chance
20:50
Speaker 1: to see this amazing friendship between these two women that
20:54
Speaker 1: we don't often get a chance to see anymore. And
20:56
Speaker 1: you watch just the ups and downs and how this
21:00
Speaker 1: group of people during that time was able to make
21:03
Speaker 1: it through Mike Apps, Charles Dutton, Candy Alexander, Tiki something.
21:08
Speaker 1: It's It is just absolutely something to watch sixteenth on HBO.
21:12
Speaker 1: Do you ever just want to scream out, like when
21:14
Speaker 1: they say things like Monique was black, bitch, I'm working
21:18
Speaker 1: come to the show, and I was going to pass
21:22
Speaker 1: that with your husband. You and your husband are so tight, Yes,
21:24
Speaker 1: do you ever have to check him and be like, baby,
21:26
Speaker 1: don't go punch that man in his face because you
21:27
Speaker 1: know it's this is you know you was baby and
21:30
Speaker 1: this is a partnership. Now you know my husband has
21:33
Speaker 1: to check me. Okay, my husband, I've been best friend
21:40
Speaker 1: since tenth grade, since we were fourteen years old, and
21:44
Speaker 1: he's probably the only human being on the face of
21:46
Speaker 1: this earth that knows me better than I know myself.
21:49
Speaker 1: So when I hear people saying that Monique and her
21:51
Speaker 1: husband are these difficult people, it makes us both laugh
21:54
Speaker 1: because we're so far from that. What we are a
21:57
Speaker 1: very honest people and we hold you to your words
22:01
Speaker 1: and your conversations, and people can have a difficult time
22:04
Speaker 1: with that. And again, that's why people will say they're difficult,
22:07
Speaker 1: because we ask questions that normally aren't asked, and they
22:11
Speaker 1: haven't practiced the answer, so before we'll get an answer,
22:14
Speaker 1: they're just these difficult people. And it's understandable. What did
22:18
Speaker 1: you think when you read about the Sony leaks, you know,
22:20
Speaker 1: where the emails were leaked from all the executives back
22:22
Speaker 1: and forth, and they were talking about all the actors,
22:24
Speaker 1: and you know, we were not in Hollywood, so we
22:27
Speaker 1: don't know how executives talking. We were like, oh my god,
22:29
Speaker 1: I can't believe they said that, and all this stuff
22:31
Speaker 1: is coming out. Were you surprising, I can't believe that,
22:33
Speaker 1: you said, I can't believe they said that. I mean,
22:35
Speaker 1: the average person, the average person is just like, wow,
22:38
Speaker 1: why are they talking like this about? You know, these
22:40
Speaker 1: famous actors are talking about Angelina and Jolie. They're going
22:42
Speaker 1: in on Kevin Hart because they're people and they do
22:46
Speaker 1: what we do as people. We talk about people, we
22:49
Speaker 1: put people to a different esteem, we hold them to
22:52
Speaker 1: a different level. Well, they're executives, but executives are what
22:56
Speaker 1: they people. It's just like that sister in the burger king,
23:00
Speaker 1: just that bank accounts are different. That's it. So once
23:03
Speaker 1: we start realizing they're just people and they do what
23:06
Speaker 1: people do, we don't put so much weight and be
23:08
Speaker 1: so shocked. How could they say that, because they just
23:11
Speaker 1: people and that's what people do. Now everybody's talking about
23:14
Speaker 1: this influxible black folks on TV right now. They see
23:17
Speaker 1: it's looking like the nineties. He thought my vib that
23:23
Speaker 1: he was saying it. Do you think it's a trend
23:26
Speaker 1: or something that's gonna last? Just do yourself a favor today.
23:30
Speaker 1: Start your TV on channel zero and go all way
23:33
Speaker 1: to one hundred and see how many of people of
23:36
Speaker 1: color you see, and then react that question. So, do
23:40
Speaker 1: we think it's an influx due? But when you just
23:43
Speaker 1: count the numbers, you'll answer your own question. True. Now,
23:47
Speaker 1: talking about Blackbird, why do you think homophobia is still
23:50
Speaker 1: so prevalent in the Black community. You know what, baby,
23:53
Speaker 1: I used to think that it was only prevalent in
23:54
Speaker 1: the Black community. And I used to think it was
23:57
Speaker 1: only our churches that were, you know, the ones that
24:00
Speaker 1: were saying put them out no more. Until we started
24:03
Speaker 1: taking this film to the festivals around the country, and
24:07
Speaker 1: what we realized was, it's not just in the Black
24:09
Speaker 1: community at all. It's in the Asian community. It's in
24:12
Speaker 1: the Latin community, it's in the Italian community, it's in
24:16
Speaker 1: the Jewish community. It's come on, now, it's in every community.
24:21
Speaker 1: Because again, it's just people. I only felt like it
24:24
Speaker 1: was in the Black community because that's the community that
24:26
Speaker 1: I deal was mainly. So I only saw the pain
24:29
Speaker 1: in our community. But then when you go out, you
24:32
Speaker 1: see that pain in all communities. True, now, you awful
24:36
Speaker 1: lot of week. Yes, it was like a hundred pounds, right.
24:38
Speaker 1: I heard you said you was the champion of big girls.
24:41
Speaker 1: Do you feel like you're abandoning them? Do you feel
24:43
Speaker 1: like I'm a small girl? You're small? Yeah, here's what's beautiful.
24:50
Speaker 1: I am still two hundred pounds. And for y'all to
24:55
Speaker 1: look at me and say you're not big? Oh how big?
25:00
Speaker 1: Oh God? And no one said a damn thing to
25:04
Speaker 1: me until one time, thing, Sasha, I watched the Parkers
25:09
Speaker 1: one time and rerun okay, and I saw Nikki's ass
25:12
Speaker 1: going to the door. I said, no one said anything.
25:16
Speaker 1: No one said And here's the thing. By no means
25:19
Speaker 1: am I ever gonna be a small woman ever. But
25:22
Speaker 1: what I do want to do is be a big,
25:24
Speaker 1: healthy woman. My husband liked the curves, he likes the roundness.
25:28
Speaker 1: But I want to be around so we can enjoy
25:31
Speaker 1: each other for a lifetime. So never will I get
25:34
Speaker 1: to be a two or four, six, eight, ten, twelve.
25:40
Speaker 1: Right now, I'm in a fourteen w sixteen, and depending
25:43
Speaker 1: on how it's cut, baby, I might need an eighteen.
25:45
Speaker 1: But okay, but I'm not trying to be that. All
25:48
Speaker 1: I'm trying to do is be around as long as
25:50
Speaker 1: I can, and to say to my big sisters, I'm
25:53
Speaker 1: going nowhere. I'm still right here, but we can be
25:56
Speaker 1: big healthy women. True. But you know what it was.
25:58
Speaker 1: You lived your truth, and when you live your truth,
26:00
Speaker 1: nobody can use your truth against you. That's why nobody
26:02
Speaker 1: ever said anything, because you owned it. If you were off,
26:05
Speaker 1: it was mine, it was mine, baby, Nobody, it was
26:10
Speaker 1: all mine until my husband was brave enough to say
26:14
Speaker 1: to me, Hey, Mama, I love you. I don't want
26:16
Speaker 1: you to be here. He he asked me how much
26:19
Speaker 1: I weighed. Well, no one ever said that, And when
26:23
Speaker 1: he said it, I knew it was three hundred pounds,
26:26
Speaker 1: but I couldn't say it, so I said two hundred
26:29
Speaker 1: and sixty six pounds, trying to be real sexy with it.
26:32
Speaker 1: He said, that's too much, and I want you for
26:35
Speaker 1: a lifetime. That was the changing point in my life
26:39
Speaker 1: because no one had ever spoken to me like that.
26:41
Speaker 1: And how did you lose the weight? Was it eating better, exercising,
26:46
Speaker 1: trying to eat things that I can pronounce. If I
26:48
Speaker 1: can't pronounce it, I try not to eat it. No,
26:50
Speaker 1: I don't always win because them damn wings at Virgiles.
26:53
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell you something. I don't know what they're
26:55
Speaker 1: putting on them wings, baby, but they are delicious. But
26:58
Speaker 1: as Sydney said to me, because when I first got
27:01
Speaker 1: into it, I wanted to happen right away. I wanted
27:03
Speaker 1: to quick. And after three weeks, I'm looking in the mirror, baby,
27:07
Speaker 1: and I'm naked. I said, Daddy, do you see a difference?
27:09
Speaker 1: He said, No, that wasn't what I was looking for.
27:13
Speaker 1: But what I understood was the moment he said yes,
27:16
Speaker 1: I knew that he really saw something different. So you know,
27:19
Speaker 1: when I say to the sisters, save your life, I'm
27:22
Speaker 1: not saying get a surgery. I'm not saying starve yourself.
27:25
Speaker 1: All I'm saying is save your life and be the
27:27
Speaker 1: healthiest that you can be. You have you used to
27:30
Speaker 1: do radio? Do you miss radio because you can get
27:32
Speaker 1: on the microphone every day and clear of any misconceptions.
27:34
Speaker 1: I miss it. I miss I miss my family. I
27:39
Speaker 1: miss you know, I miss my family. And I enjoy this,
27:44
Speaker 1: you know, because being behind this microphone, and I must say,
27:47
Speaker 1: you look really nice. Because I've done radio with some
27:49
Speaker 1: sisters and I'm like, listen, if they could see you,
27:53
Speaker 1: if they could see you, baby, they would they wouldn't
27:55
Speaker 1: want to listen to you anymore. Because did you even
27:57
Speaker 1: comb your hair? So? Yes? Because vote TV? So you
28:01
Speaker 1: know that's like that. It don't be like this at home. Yeah,
28:10
Speaker 1: but I enjoy it. I've always enjoyed it absolutely. But
28:13
Speaker 1: we appreciate you joining us, right yeah, man, I mean
28:16
Speaker 1: you know what it was. You know, people they were saying,
28:17
Speaker 1: you're a difficult but I got told him, I've seen
28:20
Speaker 1: you before and you gave me one of the someone
28:22
Speaker 1: said to you, I was just tell me who them
28:30
Speaker 1: Vade like Bernie Max, say who is they? Because what
28:34
Speaker 1: happens is it goes back to the playground, and I've
28:37
Speaker 1: always been in a little girl in the playground, Monique.
28:40
Speaker 1: Somebody said, if you ain't gonna tell me who said it,
28:42
Speaker 1: then don't even bring it to me, because what it
28:44
Speaker 1: says is you're not courageous enough to say. What I'm
28:47
Speaker 1: not gonna do is is he says. She say, I'm
28:49
Speaker 1: gonna be your friend, and I'm gonna say, listen, someone
28:52
Speaker 1: who this is their name? They said it? So maybe
28:55
Speaker 1: those two people can get together and clear it up.
28:57
Speaker 1: So if you're not gonna say who said it, then
29:00
Speaker 1: don't do it because we've grown absolutely I said that
29:04
Speaker 1: they're not okay. You've been get some more movies as
29:07
Speaker 1: well after Blackbirds. That's something that you're like, let me
29:10
Speaker 1: get some more opportunities if it makes sense. If it
29:13
Speaker 1: makes sense, yes, would you paid me one of the
29:15
Speaker 1: highest companies one time because I let you and your
29:16
Speaker 1: your home girl go out to the the elevator first and
29:18
Speaker 1: you said, thank your mama and your grandma for me.
29:21
Speaker 1: So when everybody, when people saying to me and said
29:22
Speaker 1: you was difficult, I was like, well she was nice
29:25
Speaker 1: to me. When I matter. You remember that you ain't
29:27
Speaker 1: doing me. I wouldn't nobody, don't, no, no, no, I'm
29:33
Speaker 1: saying you remember that, Yeah, right, so do I. And
29:37
Speaker 1: when you say I'm a nobody, you're everybody to me.
29:40
Speaker 1: You're somebody to me because you're saying go. His sisters say,
29:44
Speaker 1: I don't care about you. I don't care about nothing.
29:46
Speaker 1: You do what that set was your mama and your
29:49
Speaker 1: grandmama and your daddy. There were some folks to say,
29:52
Speaker 1: when you see some mother's sisters, you make sure you
29:55
Speaker 1: protect them enough to let them step on. I appreciated that. Absolutely.
30:00
Speaker 1: We gotta bring Lee Daniels only ask him about black Boss,
30:03
Speaker 1: black Boy. You know what this is trash. This is
30:08
Speaker 1: trash New York. That's why I love him. Trash ladies.
30:13
Speaker 1: Monique is the breakfast club Gamdi