April Fool’s has nothing on this twist!
Source: David Livingston / Getty
This week began with one of the most memorable confrontations in Hollywood from the Oscars slap heard and seen around the world. Now, it’s wrapping up with another Oscar-winner’s longstanding feud coming to an end after more than a decade.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lee Daniels publicly apologized to Mo’Nique. This shocking reunion comes 13 years after the Oscar-winning actress said Daniels and Precious executive producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry blacklisted her because she refused to campaign for the film for free.
On Friday, Daniels unexpectedly joined the comedian at her “Mo’Nique and Friends: April Fools Day with The Queen of Comedy” show on Staten Island. He ran up to Mo’Nique onstage for a long heartfelt hug.
“I love you, you b*tch! I love you,” Mo’Nique said after the embrace.
“B*tch, I love you more!” Daniels responded without skipping a beat. “Please tell me this ain’t no April Fool’s.”
She shook her head, “this is so g*ddamn real. This is so motherf*cking real. You and I, along with some other amazing people, made magic. And I don’t ever want us to lose that magic again.”
With an arm still wrapped around her shoulders as she started to cry, Daniels finally offered the long-awaited public apology for their falling out. Watch the epic emotional moment for yourself.
“Sometimes in life you get caught up,” Daniels explained. “I am so sorry for hurting you in any way that I did, Y’all, and she was my best friend — my best friend. Y’all think that Precious was just … That was God working, through both of us.”
Mo’Nique was visibly emotional as she reflected on their complicated past and the friendship that compelled her to join the cast of the 2009 film in the first place. That’s not the only surprise the critically acclaimed duo had in store.”And we’re gonna f*cking do it again!” Daniels continued before they broke into a happy dance to celebrate.
Deadline reports Mo’Nique isn’t just burying the hatchet with Daniels. She is also reuniting with Netflix to star in Daniels’ upcoming thriller Demon House. She will be replacing Octavia Spencer, who had to drop out of the project due to scheduling conflicts with her Apple TV+ series Truth Be Told.
In 2019, Mo’Nique sued the streaming giant for racial and gender discrimination after she reportedly received a lowball offer compared to her White and male comedian counterparts for a Netflix comedy special. According to the lawsuit, despite a legendary comedy career going back almost as long as Amy Schumer has been alive, Schumer made 26 times more money on her 1-hour Netflix standup than the $500,000 the platform offered Mo’Nique.
Netflix wasn’t penny-pinching when it won the rights to Demon House in a massive bidding war for a $65 million price tag. The film is based on terrifying true events that unfolded over two years at a haunted house in Gary, Indiana. Mo’nique will play the role of a social worker that helped Latoya Ammons and her three children as they battled well-documented demons. The rest of the star-studded cast includes Glenn Close, Stranger Things’ Caleb McLaughlin, Academy Award-nominated actresses Andra Day and Aunjanue Ellis.
If Mo and Lee can exorcise those demons, the ones in Demon House should be light work.
