WENN
Knowing that you’re being lied on and that people believe what’s being said about you is a terrible thing, but being lied on in public and on a global scale?
That’s on a level most of us can’t even comprehend.
That is something Mo’Nique had to deal with recently. The Academy Award-winning actress experienced what many would argue was the most humiliating predicament of her career.
It all began back in February when the Precious star revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that she had supposedly been “blackballed by Hollywood,” a sentiment expressed to her by director Lee Daniels, who she also revered as a friend.
It was a risky admission that could have gone either way. It could have placed an ominous cloud over Mo’Nique’s latest film, Blackbird, which she was promoting when she shared this information, or it could drum up extra publicity for the independent production. She hadn’t been seen on the big screen since 2009, so sharing this information was a gamble. However, Mo’Nique isn’t one to shy away from risks career wise.
But everything took a strange turn when Daniels went on CNN to tell his side of the story. With the gloves officially off, Mo’Nique decided to spill more tea.
The outspoken star fired back, arguing that if she weren’t a team player as Daniels had insisted, he would not have offered her the role of Cookie Lyons on his breakout hit show, Empire.
This shook Empire fans to the core as they could not imagine anyone else being in the role besides Taraji P. Henson. And when co-creator Danny Strong shot back saying it wasn’t true, the show’s fans believed him and criticized Mo’Nique. Many people felt that she was a jilted star who needed to move on already.
That is until she produced receipts.
During Mo’Nique’s interview on Sway in the Morning, she showed off printed emails between both Daniels’ camp and her own management team as they discussed her involvement with the show. Sway read the emails aloud: “Lee Daniels had a conversation with Mo’Nique about his new television pilot for Imagine TV/Fox called Empire. We would like to screen test her for the role of ‘Cookie.’ Please contact us with her television quotes, so that we can start a test, option, deal. We are tentatively looking at Monday, Feb 24 for the screen test.”
There the proof was, in black and white. While Daniels and Strong were apparently trying to diminish Mo’Nique’s character and tarnish her professional reputation, they were ultimately exposed as shady, and now it’s their character being brought into question.
While she should have been talking about her latest creative venture in interviews, Mo’Nique has spent a lot of time and energy defending herself against Daniels, which I’m sure was pretty exhausting for her, and at times, the public.
But I don’t blame Mo’Nique. Being lied on is an awful thing (I’m speaking from experience), and had Mo’Nique put more focus on her new film rather than defending herself, we’d still have a skewed view of her. We would believe that she used this entire situation for publicity and wouldn’t want to support her or her new movie.
When someone lies on you, it is a betrayal, especially if you consider the person a friend as Mo’Nique considered Daniels.
If this happens to you, the first thing you need to digest is that if this person could lie on you, they were probably never really your friend in the first place. Owning that thought is the first step because it allows you to understand who this person is. Getting over the shock of it all will help you figure out what to do next.
In Mo’Nique’s case, she had proof. Unfortunately, sometimes we’re lied on and there is no proof. People just have to take your word. If you’ve exhausted yourself trying to prove to others that you have been lied on, I suggest letting it go and allowing karma to work its magic. There is nothing more precious than time, and once it is gone we cannot get it back. Don’t waste it trying to prove someone wrong and by trying to convince people of something you know is the truth. As long as you know the real deal, that’s what matters. The truth will reveal itself in time.
