Club Shay Shay - Mo'Nique Part 2

Episode Date: February 7, 2024

In Part 2 of Mo'Nique’s conversation with Shannon Sharpe, she shares uproarious tales from her experiences on the road with The Queens of Comedy and The Kings of Comedy. Mo'Nique offers an insider's perspective of those legendary tours with her signature humor and charm. With raw honesty, she recounts deeply personal experiences, from confronting her past family trauma to the tumultuous journey of settling her lawsuit with Netflix. Mo'Nique weighs in on Shaq's assertion that men shouldn't open up emotionally to women. Known for her unapologetic and insightful perspective, Mo'Nique delves into the nuances of gender dynamics, challenging societal norms with her trademark humor and wisdom. This episode is a rollercoaster of emotions, unfiltered truths, and, of course, hearty laughs. Don't miss the wisdom, wit, and wild tales shared by the legendary Mo'Nique on Club Shay Shay. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for coming back. Part two is underway.

Mo, obviously, when you do stand-up, you go to a lot of different cities, a lot of different clubs. Yes. It's a lot of different promoters. Has everybody always been on the up- up with Monique or did you try? Sometimes people try to take advantage. You're female. You're black.

You're heavy. You're not going to say that like Mr. From Color Purple. You're black. You're ugly. You're not going to do that. But you know, people try to take. People would try to take advantage of anyone,

but seemingly like us, they were willing to take more advantage. I've had to tell the promoters, call the police. Cause either they're going to come get you or me. They're trying to hold up on the money. Call the police because, and this was,

this was like $75. Can you imagine? $ you imagine 75 like you know where we come from yeah if somebody gets you for 25 dollars that's a problem yeah for sure imagine 25 million yeah we've seen people lose their life for 25 dollars for sure Imagine somebody getting you for millions. How are you supposed to feel? Would you let it go? No, hell no. Right. So when people say, Mo, just let it go. Yeah, but it's easy for people to say let it go when they haven't lost anything. Come on, baby. It's easy to say. Come on. easy to say come on but when you've lost how do you it's kind of like it's kind of like you know hey someone should just get over it you should you can't tell somebody how to grieve how long to

grieve because you're not the one that's hurting they didn't do it to you they didn't do it to you it was done and and i will say this right now on your show. I still love y'all. We still love y'all. You love more than make it right. My husband. Okay, say that again. Because I love y'all more. Y'all make it right.

Yes, indeed. Okay, I fix him a pancake. My husband would always say, Mama, we ain't calling nobody out. We calling them up. And if we continue to call us up on our doings that are not right we get better as a people like we get better do you know why things were able to happen like they happen on the color purple why are you like oh you're talking about the remake you're talking about i'm talking about the seventh one the one that just came out right right and that the seventh edition it's like the musical with fantasia and and taraji right just came out right right and that the seventh edition it's like the musical

with fantasia and taraji right right right right right that one with all our beautiful sisters yes you know why they're able to treat us like they treat us how are you handpicked and you audition no if you handpick you don't audition i want you to say that again shannon because people don't understand how deep this goes when i watch my sister say it was an honor to be handpicked right then why ever would you audition yeah and the moment in my opinion the moment she auditioned they knew we got them we can treat them any kind of way we want to treat them we can do them any kind of way but why would you want to why because you can't that doesn't mean you should but they did but they did how do you handpick me and then

mistreat me yes and then i gotta send a letter to you about the mistreatment that you gave me. That's why they're able to get away with it. That's why when I do interviews, oftentimes on these conversations, people are too afraid to even address it because they don't want to be caught up like, oh, I don't, I don't know. When you say, wait a minute, no, that's the truth. Right. I heard it. And I don't want my character to be on the line as I'm being a person sitting there asking people about their lives and then not be able to stand in what I've heard. That's why it made so much. It was important for us.

It was important for us to get you that audio. I don't want you to take my word. And anything I've said on this couch right now that don't take my word. Ask those people. Ask those people and see what happens. And then maybe after this come out, they're going to label me again. Ask those people. Ask those people. Right. And see what happens. And then maybe after this come out, they're going to label me again. She's bitter.

She's not loved. Yeah, yeah. You got 30, 40 million of my dollars. Yeah, I'm bitter. The average person going to be bitter. Okay, I just want to look at your camera. Okay. And here's the thing. Because I got a king at home,

I'm not bitter. I'm not bitter. You just want what's right. We're just determined. Right. Life is too good to be bitter, but we're determined for you to take accountability. Right.

That's all. Game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all sports, music, comedy, and theater events near you. And right now, all users get $100 off when they buy Big Game Ticket with code Vegas100. They're obsessed with finding ways to help you save money on tickets. Game Time has deals on tickets right up to the start of the event and even an hour after

it starts. It's the place to help find last minute seats, find exclusive flash deals, and sponsor deals on tickets for football, basketball concert comedy theater and the game time guarantee means you'll always find the best price if you find the tickets in the same section and same row for less game time will credit you up to 110% of the difference take the guesswork out of buying tickets with game time right now game time users get $100 off big game tickets with code Vegas.

Terms apply. Just download the Game Time app, use code V-E-G-A-S 100 for $100 off big game ticket. Or if you're not going to the game, use code Shay Shay for $20 off your first purchase. Download Game Time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. When did Mo

get her first big break in comedy? Oh. We at Apollo Theater. And the sister that stay out front that had the jerry curl. If she liked you, everybody liked you. If she did not like you, nobody

liked you. And when I saw that you nobody liked you and when I saw that woman stand to her feet baby good I was good there was so many moments were you nervous to go on Apollo because you know if you everybody know about the follow you nervous every time you still get nervous every time baby and not the nerves when you skid it's just that ooh, I get to do it again. Like when you go out to the field, it's like, ooh, it's that. I still get that. Yeah.

Wow. That's, I mean, to hear you speak and to see, like, how passionate, you're a very, very passionate person about everything. I love us. I love us. I love us. Like when I say I love my people, I love my people, Shannon. I love us. I love everybody. Right.

But my people, I love us. So when I speak on things, it's not to drop shade, mess, or tea. I'm too damn grown for that. I'm 56 and a grandmother who got time for that but i say it because will it make us better right will it make us come to the table and say you know what what do we really leave for the babies that's coming behind us that means something to me when i talked about them damn bonnets let me tell you something yeah you you said hey come on can we like when we come out the house can we not have the bonnets, let me tell you something. Yeah, you you say, hey, come on.

Can we like when we come out the house, can we not have the bonnets on? Can we not have the pajamas on? Can we not have the house shoes going in the whole damn Halloween costume? That's a Halloween costume that you wear on Halloween. And I am passionate about that because what is the representation that we're giving to the little girls that's walking behind you? What is the representation that we're giving to our black men that's walking beside us? What is the reputation that we're giving? And when they would say to me, oh, Monique, you don't know what they going through. We always been going through something. Yes.

We was going through something when we got off the damn boat. We've been going through something. True. But once you lose the pride and the dignity of what you of what you feel like you look like then we've lost so i wasn't backing down on that it's like no y'all we owe ourselves right that we owe ourselves that how hard is it for you to love some in the community when you know they don't love you back. That's a good one, Shannon. Okay. That's a good one because sometimes I'll be in the bed from having conversations with the ones that don't love me back,

but I still love them because I just know they're misinformed. We've been conditioned in such a way in our community to eat each other up and spit each other out we've been conditioned well i don't like her and i i love my people but why why do i love my no no i'm saying a lot of times you for me mo is that i don't take someone's word about to because you can only judge a person through personal experience yes you don't know our audio guy but but to say oh well i don't like him and then for you said well i don't like him either because shannon didn't like it you have no personal experience with him so why would you why would you dislike it people want us to dislike

somebody because they've had a negative experience with that said person. And we buy into it. We buy into it because this one don't like it. And then you say, why don't you like him? Let me. This is one thing my husband said to me one time. He said, Mama, there's not a person on the face of this earth that I dislike. I may dislike what they do, but I don't dislike the person. And it took me a minute to understand it because I'm like, I don't like their ass. I don't like what they did. I don't like their ass.

I don't like their mama. I don't like none of them. But he said, no, there are things you've done that I dislike, but I don't dislike you. Right. And once we can get past that, then we even grow to be better. So what you're seeing right now, Shannon, is Mrs. Sidney Hicks, that my husband has set me down and had conversations with me and really taught me how to be a lady because people in this business know if you sideways baby you beat that boy over the head with that tray in the cafeteria right

i will cuss your ass out in ways that they wish i beat him with a tray and he had to say mama they won't hear you right they don't hear you once you go there so he's had to teach me how to really be a queen, really know my worth, really understand my value. And I'm grateful for that. And I used to say to my husband, I wish I could put you in a bottle and shake you up and let black women take a sip to know what it's like to truly be loved by a black man that is a king. When I tell you Shannon it's a love that is unexplainable and unimaginable that's why I can't be broken and I say that humbly I can't be broken because I got a king at home I got a king right there that when all

this shit went crazy, that man took me by my hands and said, don't you know we good? And I believed him. And right now to this day, I believe him. And when you have that type of strength, it's hard to bend

over. You can't. Right. You said that when you were at your lowest, he lifted you to your highest. You better know your homework, baby. I'm proud of you. We got toast on that one. You better know your damn homework. I said that when I was at my lowest, he loved me like I was at my best.

When I was at my lowest, he loved me like I was at my best. And I was mentally ill because you're in this business. Everybody thinks you are the hero. Consideration can be thrown out the window. Patience can be thrown out the window. Because when you get home, you believe that I'm the breadwinner. And what I say is what goes, and this is what it is. And then this is my third marriage, though my first, because this is the first time I've known my place as a black man's wife. Mm. And there's a place and we get so caught up in that word, what you mean you're playing, what you mean?

Without him saying it, his actions showed me that he was the leader of that household. Without him saying it, I knew I was dealing with a king. And he doesn't have to constantly remind you of it. He never. He's never. When we first got together, I said at the head of that table Comfortably

There was never a conversation about it till one day I knew I was in the wrong place And I moved to the side of the table and he said at the head We never had a conversation about it. It just happened because it was supposed to. So when people question my husband and why is he there, you would hope you would have one like that. I remember our beautiful sister, Tiffany Haddish, did an interview with GQ magazine. And this is my humble opinion is where we keep throwing each other under the bus. You're doing an interview with GQ magazine. And I'm assuming the journalist was a white person.

And the conversation turned to Monique. And she said, well, I don't do business like Monique do business. And I'm glad I don't have that husband of hers. But she don't know your husband. And when I saw that, it's like, tiffany if you had a husband like mine you may not have two duis if you had a husband like mine you may not be caught up in what looks like you could have been grooming a child and i say all of that with no judgment but when you speak about having a husband like mine you open up the door and i say all of that with no judgment but when you speak about having a husband like mine you open up the door and i'm saying to you if you had one like mine you may not sit in these

positions that you can't explain the next day right or it's a hard way to go so once again well she doesn't even have a husband let let alone like yours. Well, damn it. Now you said it. I stepped on that. That was a sip that required a sip. You know, Moesha. How did that come about? Moesha? Yeah. You had an audition for Moesha, right? No, sir. Hold on. No, sir.

You didn't get on Moesha? I did. I say this not to be, but I never auditioned. What? I've never auditioned. They've called. I think I thought I was auditioning for a burger king commercial but what it really was was the agency i was with at the time just trying to blow smoke right you

know making me think i'm doing something right but to audition when i first came to hollywood i told this guy named uh i believe his name is mark unray and i told aj john Johnson and I told a sister named Kim, Kimberly Brooks. I said, I'm not auditioning. And they was like, OK, like your fat ass. You're not auditioning. OK, fat ass. We'll see. That's what they did.

They laughed. But I meant that. I'm like, what you see is what you get. I am not going to, especially now. Especially now. not going to especially now especially now why ever would i audition when i've got the highest award that you can get in this business called acting and why would i do that right because once i do that i devalue me if you can't look at my work and say that's what we want then no thank you right like they'll call they'll send emails and they'll say, what's Monique availability?

None of your business. I don't know you. So you're just going to send an email and want to know what's my availability. I'm offer only. I am offer only. So again, we got to be careful what we say yes to. What Sidney Poitier say, it's not how many times you say yes. It's how many times you say yes. It's how many times you say no.

And the moment our baby auditioned, they got set up for no trailers. They got set up for no food. They got set up for no drivers because now in their mind, they think you desperate. Right. So when Oprah does the one on one with Taraji and she begins to run down her credits, the great Taraji P. Henson, then why ever would you allow the audition to happen? Why ever would you allow that? Why wouldn't you go to that studio and say,

she doesn't have to, I handpicked them. So either our sister's not as powerful as we believe she is, or either there's not the concern that she tries to make it look like it is. But you turn a couple of appearance on Moesha into the Parkers. This is how the Parkers happen. Normally you shoot a pilot. Correct. Right?

Yes. And the pilot, they decide whether or not they're going to do the show from the pilot. Right? Yes. Okay. Countess Vaughn and I, when I go to a meeting with a guy named Larry Little at Big Ticket Television. And at the time, my agent was a woman named Susie Unger. They're trying to sell a talk show. Yes. We have a meeting. He says, listen, I don't need her to do a talk show.

But if she can act, she has her own show. My agent said, of course she can act. Well, she didn't know if I could act or not. But I said, damn it, of course I can. They brought Countess Vaughn one until that meeting that was at one o'clock by that evening they were negotiating the deal for the parkers the way they introduced the character because they always talked about kim's mother on moesha they they introduced nikki parker in an episode of moesha which was the pilot spin-off to the parkers there was never an audition there was never any of that so now all of a sudden you got your own sitcom shut up come on now you go home and you're like from be more marilyn from what i went through to this yes are you looking around like damn it i made i i knew this i knew this thing was

gonna happen yes yes yes and you know how you know knew as a child. And I say this humbly. I knew the world would know my name like I knew that. So once you in it, you'd be just like. I still. can be in a supermarket and somebody say, Monique, is that you? And I still can tear up because I'm like, I'm here. I remember when I got my first parking lot at the parkers, I didn't know I had a parking space. And they would send out emails to say, if you're here for the parkers, park outside the gate. And they would send out emails to say, if you're here for the parkers, park outside the gate.

That's how naive I was when you asked me, was I naive? So I would park outside the gate. Even though I'm one of the stars of a show, baby, they said if you were to park, because there's no 101. There's no Hollywood 101. There's no introduction. They just say go and you're supposed to get it. So I would walk across the parking lot all the way over to the set, to the stage till a brother named William Tripp was in a golf cart one day. He said, Mo, what you doing? I said, going to the set. He said, why are you walking across the parking lot? I said, oh, because they said, if you're with the parkers, you got to park outside the gate.

Their brothers laughed, but it was a brotherly laugh. He said, come here, baby. Let me show you something. And I got on that golf cart and he drove me to my parking space that had my name on it. That was a moment for me. Like I'm pulling up to a studio and that's my name. That's the little fat black girl from Baltimore, Maryland, who was in the slow, slow class. That's the little fat black girl from Baltimore, Maryland, who didn't have a lot of friends. A lot of people didn't want to deal with me, but that's my name on that

parking space. Now, do you see why I fight like I fight? Because it's all possible. But what happens is we then lose ourselves in the possibility of what we're getting. And now we're too afraid to lose it. So all the principles, all the morals, all your values, they don't go away. You just push them to the side because you know what it's like not to have gas money. So I'll just, you know, I just go ahead and do that a little bit. My soul won't let me do that. Why did you want to become famous you asked me earlier did i know that i was going to play in the nfl and i told you yes because i would i wanted to play in the nfl

because it was going to get my grandmother and my family into a situation they probably would have never enjoyed without it come on that was my driving force that was all I thought about Mo given your family situation and what transpired why didn't Mo want to be famous so bad I'm a little fat black girl baby and ask another fat black girl we fight for that attention because you wasn't the one picked on the playground to play kickball right you wasn't the one picked on the playground to play kickball. Right. You wasn't the one picked for the spelling bee. You wasn't the one picked for this.

You wasn't the one picked for that. So I was like, one day, one day, one day, one day. I'm sure you growing up, you had your challenges. You were a dark skinned man. There was a time you stuttered. Yeah, yeah. You know, I wasn't always popping. Most not that you brought it up.

Let's talk about it, Shay Shay. It was the elder barges, you remember that? Talk about it. Your hair wasn't curly, your skin was black. Yeah, man. Okay? Yeah, now that you brought it up, I wasn't always poppin'. You know what that is.

So now to be that. Now to be that. Yeah. Now you gotta be careful. Because you remember the time when she told you, no, I don't want to go out on a date with old Black Shannon. Yeah, you know. You don't want to go out on a date with old Black Shannon.

Let me talk to her right now. Let me talk to your ass that wouldn't go out with Black Shannon. Now you wish you would have went out with Black Shannon. That's studded. Okay, you wish you would have went out with Black stuttering Shannon Sharpe's ass. Now look at him. He got the Shea Shea show. I bet her ass a truck.

I've been there. I've been there. I've been there. So we understand it. You know, you understand that drive. You understand that thing in you that says I won't let nobody stop me. Now, my drive wasn't that I wanted to get my family out of poverty because I've always grown up in a middle class environment. So it wasn't that we were dirt poor. You know, we have no whole lot. But I didn't look at it as we were in power. Right. Right. For me, I just wanted to.

I wanted the world to know me. And then once I had a son. Right. I was very young when I had my first son. I didn't want him to have to go to a college because that was all that my parents could afford. I wanted him to be able to do whatever he wanted to do. And then there was a sacrifice in that, right? Because when you're trying to go get it, you're missing this right here. Oh, you miss a lot. The nurturing, you miss all of that.

So, you know, all of that had to be dealt with. So now with this group, with my second set of children, I'm a different mother than I was then. So my whole thing is even right now, we want to make sure that when we leave here, our babies are good. Right. And their babies are good. And if Tyler Perry not told that lie we would be on our way to that and I know people saying why she keep going back to that I'm gonna keep going back to that shit Shannon Sharp till he takes accountability for it you said your first

son yes that you're trying to get it but it robbed you of a lot of things of a mother son relationship and so you made sure not to make the mistake this time around what's your relationship like is he resentful of that we're still very much separated okay and and and it's a it's a it's a um it's one of those things where you have to pray to the universe and say, let time do the healing. Mm-hmm. And that's it. Right. That's it.

Let time do that healing. It may heal it in time, and it may not. Right. And that's something that we as parents have to say, listen. Right. I've done what I could do. I've taken accountability for it. Now it's up to you.

Right. That's like when somebody's saying, Shannon, I want to apologize to you. Now it is up to you. Whether or not to accept. Whether or not to. But once I give it to you, I've done my part. And don't apologize like no punk. I'm just sorry for everything.

That get your ass out of it. No, break it down. Let's go bit by bit. So that way we know you understand the offense that you've done. Now, I'm not sick because I've had to do that. When I tell you I was so out of line and out of order when I first got with my husband. So out of order and out of line and out of order when I first got with my husband. So out of order and out of line. And this has been my best friend since 10th grade, since we were 14 years old.

He came to the other weddings. What? It was like my brother. This man, he was like my brother. He been out hustling you for a minute, Mo. You know, he wasn't. That's why it's so beautiful. Because we were like, we had a place together. You know, he wasn't. That's why it's so beautiful.

Because we were like, we had a place together. He would see my boyfriend. I see his girlfriend. You know. You didn't feel some type of way? This was my brother. This was literally my brother. And then if it wasn't my boyfriend, it might be another little fella.

But, you know, he was like my brother. We were brother and sister. Right. so the way it happened yes it was so pure tell me that's what i want to know now you he came to you say came to wedding you saw him have girlfriends i don't know if he was married or not before you never been married you how how did i gotta know this i could hallmark need to do a baby girl we got time we got time we good on time absolutely i want you to say that again and i don't want hallmark but okay okay okay because this story this story is spicy and i don't know if hallmark can handle the spice of the story so we've always been like brother and sister right he was the one i would call after a show when i was staying at a motel and i'd be like yo they got me in this motel

and niggas outside and everything i'm scared he'd be like but one day one day you're gonna be on the inside this is the same guy that we was going to the uh like our little farmer's market in baltimore and i had a comedy club called Monique's in Baltimore. And a girl had on a Monique's T-shirt. And he says, one day they know you only in Baltimore. But one day they're going to know you all around the world. That's the same guy that when we step off of a plane in London together. And a guy says, my wife knows I fancy you.

And we went back to that moment coming out of that store in Baltimore where one day they'll know you all over the world. So he's always been, he always made life right for me. But it was my brother, right? And I remember one night when I thought Gerald LaVert was my brother right and i remember one night when i thought joel lavert was my boyfriend and let me be clear i thought he was my boyfriend i was never his girlfriend right but in my mind you know we're we're taking some wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast nfl daily with greg rosenthal five days a week you'll get all the latest news

previews recapsps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away?

Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast at NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So I'm in my feelings because I like this little teddy bear. Yeah.

Right. But the teddy bear didn't like. It was reciprocated. Okay. All right. Not the way I wanted it to be. Right. So I call up my best friend.

And I'm saying I'm mad. He said, all right. He said, listen, it's all good when you come home, you know, let's just hang out. Right. And when I went home, I was doing a BET award. Right. And I had a big party at my house. Yeah.

And the next day I was supposed to go to Essence for the film, for the Essence Festival. Mm-hmm. So that night at the house, my house, the outside is packed. Ain't nobody throw a Hollywood party, Shannon Sharp, like Monique threw a Hollywood. You thought of. I had every race, every nationality, everything you thought could be at a party. And everybody was just. Having a great time. A great time, right? So he's at the party and everybody was just having a great time.

So he's at the party and he's very reserved. You know, very reserved cat. So I grabbed his hand and said, come on, let's go dancing. And we got on the dance floor and had a great time. After that, I'm like, all right, I got to start packing and get ready to go to the Essence Festival.

So we go upstairs and I take my shower. Well, it's nothing for him to see me naked because we were roommates. Right. You know, so nothing. So he says, when you come back from Essence, I want to talk with you. So I said, okay.

So he went to kiss me on my cheek, but the kiss was half lip. It was like here. Yeah, okay see it's slick with it you see it was right there right now i tried to turn the whole mouth but it came right there right because i felt something different and i was like and then after it happened we both almost had a feeling of like what just we did something wrong. Like, that's not. So we didn't address it. Right.

I came back from Essence Festival. What did you want to talk about? I went to his place. Okay. He fixed dinner. Okay. He fixed dinner and read this amazing poem that he wrote. That was almost 19 years ago.

Uh-oh. We've never been apart since then. Wow. We've never been apart since then. And I am more in love with that man today than I was when we first got married because I didn't really know what I was getting. I knew I was getting somebody I could trust because I just needed somebody that I could just trust. Like my brother stole from me. I just needed somebody that I could just trust. And I didn't want to keep on having randoms. Right.

Because that gets old after a while. You know what I'm saying? You're just trying to fill the void. And men go through that as well as women. You just get tired of it. So I knew I could trust him. But I didn't know he was the king that he was, Shannon. I didn't know that I would be raised.

And there are women that have a problem with me saying that. And I will not back down from it. I did not know that that man would take me from a 15-year-old mentality. Even though I'm a star. I'm famous. I got a few dollars in my bank account, but still had that little girl mentality. You can't correct me. You can't say nothing to me. You can't check me. You can't do none of that. Still had that way. That man was able to shut all of that down and grow me up. So I got a great one. I won't even say a good up so i got a great one i won't even say a good one i got a great you got a great one yeah you got a lover a best friend yes a manager a husband yes confidant

yes yes yes a protector yeah you're saying it and it seems like people have a hard time getting it but that's exactly who sydney hicks is he's all of those things when the queens of comedy when was that because i was some more adele gibbons miss laura tell me about the queens of comedy we hear about we hear about the the kings of comedy all the time and and it was great. Yeah. You. I was not an original queen of comedy. And when I came on, right, I was so honored to be in the presence of three of the greatest female comedians to ever do it. And when I tell you hands down, them sisters are incredible because they've paved ways for people. And when we got together, Shannon, it was nonstop history making because we were selling out in ways that were unheard of.

Right. And I can remember our first show because I was not initially the headliner of the Queens of Comedy. Some more was? Right. And I can remember our first show, because I was not initially the headliner of the Queens of Comedy. Some more was. Right. And I remember our first show, and this is why I appreciate her, because she knows a great show.

Like, you have some comedians that feel like, you can't follow me. I tore the stage down, and it's over, and you can't, you can't, you can't. And I felt that way one time in my life, and that was with D.L. Hughley, right? But you have, you... She was the headliner of the show. you can't and and i felt that way one time in my life and that was with dl hugley right but you have you she was the headliner of the show and we were in atlanta and it was one of those shows

where the basket for me was this big like i don't care what i said it was just right some more is one of the funniest. It's just our energies are different. I'm liable to run across the stage. Just the energy is different. And that night, the energy was just different. It was not that she was less funny. Just the energy was different. And this is why I love that sister. She walked off the stage that night after she closed the show. She walked by me and she said, you headline from now on. And she kept walking.

We never discussed it. We never discussed it. It takes for me. It takes a person saying we want a great show. Right. We just want a great show. Correct. And that's what that was.

Miss Laura taught me how to warm up food on a damn iron with a towel. She said, bitch, I've been to prison. We don't have no microwave and we're going to eat these buffalo wings. Flip that iron over and wrap that Reynolds wrap up and cover it with that towel. Baby, them buffalo wings were so damn good. We just... But did we

get treated fairly? Hell to the no. No, we did not. There were times on that Queens of Comedy tour that I had to, even on that tour, I had to say some things. Because it wasn't fair. And the way we were being treated, it was not fair. There were times when money wasn't right. there were times when money wasn't right and i remember the first date for the queens of comedy and i got a call from my agent and she says to me no more cnd promoters you're in the big leagues now

walter latham wants to want you to be a part of the Queens of Comedy. Okay. Thank you. No problem. Because he's the executive producer of the Kings of Comedy, correct? Right. This is going to be a blast. The first check I got. Let me sit for I tell you.

I might meditate myself too. My banker called me up and said, Monique, this check is no good. I said, excuse me? The money jump funny? Sip again. God damn it. I might need a little something strong.

Hold on. Damn it, Shannon. The money's no good. I said, what you say? She said, Monique, this check is no good. So I immediately got on the phone with no good. I said, what'd you say? She said, Monique, this check is no good. So I immediately got on the phone with my agent and I said, let me tell you something about CND promoters. My money always good. Now I need you to get Walter Latham on the phone. Walter Latham from here on out, I will only accept cash from you moving forward. You have

two hours to get the money into my account. If not, take me off the Queens of Comedy tour. He make it right? He made it right. You saw me on the tour, didn't you? Yeah. And then one night, this is why people could say that's a problem. If I tell you I'm going to pay you $50,000.25, what are you expecting? $50,025. So one night they tried to give me what was not all of it. I need all of it. I don't care if it's a little bit. It's mine.

Right. Until you get it, my throat hurts. So they had to go. I get sick on them, Shannon. Are you used to the weather? Well, I performed that night because they had to go get my money. Right.

Then they started selling shows off. So what that means is now you got different promoters coming in. We're women. We are women. Okay. So more had an assistant and I had an assistant and both of our assistants were not the kind of men that was going to fight. Okay. They might scratch you, but they weren't going to ball their fists up and do no guffing. Okay. So we're in a position now where we're trying to defend ourselves because now you walking up you walking up you i'm a promoter i'm a promoter i'm a promoter take pictures with

my family take and we had no idea this was happening right one night we're on the kings and queens right and oh how bernie mack is missed oh how he's missed because he was a real one. All the kings of comedy had limos separate. Steve had one. Bernie had one. Cedric had one. Dio had one. All of them. Then another limousine pull up and they say, this is for the queens of comedy.

I said, I will not. I will not. You better pull up four separate limousines. You're going to treat us the same way you treated them. We helped sell out 44,000 people. That wasn't just the Kings. It was the Kings and the Queens. So you will treat us accordingly.

Right. All the Kings got Rolex watches when it was over. What y'all get? I'm still waiting for mine. That's the treatment. So when people say, why won't y'all do the Queens again? It was a moment in time

and it was a beautiful moment in time and some things should be left where they were. Wow. This is what I want to get to to i want you to get to it a lot of this happened with the movie precious that's the movie that made monique a star amongst she shined the brightest because you played that role nobody else could have did that role just as Mo. Thank you, baby. Nobody. You played it.

And I remember walking out of the movie, and I called my sister. I said, she's going to win the Academy Award for that role. I said, it's almost like she was born to play that role. Now, correct me if I'm wrong. Okay. Okay. You shoot a movie. Yes. The movie wrapped. now now tell correct me if i'm wrong okay okay you shoot a movie yes the movie wrap you might have to come back and do some voiceover some some here some touch-up work here there yes that's already scripted into the contract now the promotion aspect of the contract

what were you contracted to do because that seems to be where the the conflict seems to come in because you like okay what so tell the people that's going to watch this and listen to this what was monique contractually obligated to do as far as the promotional aspect of precious i was contractually obligated to promote the movie Precious under Lee Daniels Productions. Okay. I promoted Precious under Lee Daniels Productions. I did Oprah. I did magazines. I did TV shows.

I did all of the promotions I was contractually obligated to do. Okay. That was it. That was it. I'm done with it. Done. Okay. Now Precious That was it. I'm done with it. Done. Okay. Done.

Now Precious is going to Cannes. Right? Mm-hmm. At the time, I have the Monique show. Mm-hmm. I am on the Spread the Love tour. I have toddler babies. And I'm also a wife.

Mm-hmm. Okay? Monique, the Monique show is like down for maybe a couple days, a week or so. Right. I got some days off on the tour. I'm going to relax with my family. Right. Because once they sold the movie.

Right. You didn't sell me. Right. Whoopi Goldberg. See, Whoopi Goldberg said I could have schooled you and told you what was expected. When I didn't promote and go overseas. And you know how you just looked up and looked away? Yeah.

Whoopi Goldberg, what you were saying to me, I could have schooled you and told you, you go in that house and let them have their way with you. Right. And I'll be here when you come back. So after I'm done with my promotions, Lionsgate reaches out to my husband. Initially, they think they're talking to my attorney, right? And they say, we want Monique to come to Cannes too. She promoted so well in the United States. We want her to go international and promote the movie and do Cannes. I tell my husband, please let them know i respectfully decline i appreciate it

but i respectfully decline i'm gonna spend some time at home lionsgate calls back we really would like for monique to come to can promote this movie please let them know i respectfully decline'm going to spend time with my family. Lionsgate calls back and says, what is it going to take for us to get Monique to come to Cannes? We'll give her another week in France. We'll upgrade her room. My husband said, is there a dollar amount attached to what you're asking for?

Oh, we will never pay anyone to promote a film. Never. He said, we understand. And we're never going to work for free. You're asking her to do something that she's not obligated to do. Correct. Well, is this the attorney? He said, actually, I'm her manager and her husband. Now we can put it on the husband's being difficult. Right. Right. Okay. So I don't owe anybody anything. That's why I was never sued. Now we go to the hoodie awards. Tyler Perry is there. OK.

Tyler Perry calls me in his room. Now, when I go into Tyler Perry's room, his staff is in there. Now, you're ready to holler laughing. Yes. OK. I take my security in there with me because I always want to have somebody with me. Right. Right. Tyler Perry does this. And the people scattered. They all left out the room. I said, look at this shit right here. You saw me and they all scattered. That wasn't a lie. That's for the people. You know, lights on?

Lights off because they got their asses up out of here. Okay. So at the time, my security looked at me. I said, you don't work for Tyler Perry. You could. Touche. So Tyler Perry says to me, listen, Monique, we really need you to, you know, promote this film

because if you get nominated for the Oscar, your next movie is going to be $3 to $5 million. If you win it, your next movie is six to eight million dollars i said tyler perry who you talking to i'm a black woman when they're gonna pay that kind of no i'm telling you that's what it is and and if you just go and promote it i said listen brother you can pay me to promote it because at the time now him and oprah producers on the film right i said you can pay me to do it i don't care where the check come from but y'all just gotta pay me the money he said i'm not in the habit of giving out money for free i said then i'm not in the habit of working for

free but you gave td jakes a check for a million dollars but that's another story and i'm back so when he then says that it's like listen we both mutually agree you don't give out free money. I don't work for free. We hugged, Shannon. When we were done talking, we hugged. Do you hear me? Yes. We hugged like brother and sister. Like, it's cool. He understand. Right. Okay? Okay. Oprah Winfrey calls my husband.

I want y'all to take your time because I'm getting ready to go. Yeah, you and I still can't. Yeah, because the people at home, they sitting there like, Monique, what happened? time because I'm getting ready to go. Yeah, you and I feel careful right now. Yeah, because the people at home, they sitting there like, Monique, what happened? Bitch, I'm getting ready to take. She calls my husband. Okay. My husband explains to her what's going on.

She says, there have been times I've had to draw the line in the sand. So my husband said, well, what is different between you and Monique? You've got to draw the line in your sand when you know they're asking you for too much, she said, you're absolutely right. And I understand your position. You're right in the position you're taking. So when you're looking at me saying, well, what happened?

I'm telling you what happened. But okay. She's saying that privately, but did she voice that publicly? Did you hear her say it? I did. Did you hear her say it? I did. Did you hear her say it? JT, did you hear her say it? No. Zach, did you hear her say it, Zach? Regina, did you hear her? Tommy? No one seemed to hear that publicly. She said that privately. Now, when she said that, see, said that privately. Now, when she said that, see, everything we're saying to you, it can be proven.

She had him on speakerphone when she was talking to him. In that room was a man named Reggie Wells, who just passed, who used to be Oprah Winfrey's makeup artist, who he had a conversation with me and my husband. Now, for you babies, that's good. With the little internet, we had a show on called Monique and Sidney, Finding a Way to Be Unaffended, finding a way to be unoffended. Reggie Wells is on that show speaking about Oprah Winfrey. Reggie Wells said, Monique, I was there that day. He said, and when y'all got off the phone, he looked, I looked at her and said, why don't you just pay this woman the money? She deserves it. And she looked at him and said, I won't be paying a nothing. And he said, that's not right. And you know, it's not right. Now that man shared that on that show. So I'm not saying nothing that hasn't been shared. So you have people that will say things in private, but won't do it publicly. I'm the person that I will say it in private.

And I'm going to say it publicly because that's the only way we make it right but you don't need somebody to talk good to your face you need somebody to talk good behind your back so if you're telling me if you're telling me what a great person I am in my face but you're telling me I'm dog poop behind my back what good is that what does that make those kind of people Shannon that's what does it make those kind of people that is cowardly see here's what's this when we have our juggernauts oprah winfrey tyler perry steve harvey the kevin hart these are our juggernauts of our community these are the people that our babies say when i grow up i want to be that i want be like that. So we have to call those people to

the mat and say, listen, what are you teaching our babies? You're feeding poison because you're showing them your private jet. I'm going to show you my mansion. I'm going to show you my fancy cars, but my character is shot and I'm bankrupt. I got a lot of money in my bank. It's more zeros than some of them can, than we can imagine. But their character, they are bankrupt. Those are bankrupt people. So everybody that cat sat right here and told you about,

I can't wait to see your next interviews with those people. They ain't coming on now, Mo. Invite them. I have. They not going to do it. Well, look, I've already done them. I have. They not going to do it. Well, look, I've already done Steve. I have a relationship with Steve.

Do him again. Do him again. And I'm going to say this. I'm trying to get Oprah and Tyler, though. Baby, we got them. Y'all come on. Stop playing. They ain't coming on, Mo.

Thanks to you. You know how. And I don't want to put you on the spot, but I'm going to say it because I appreciate you as a black man and what you're doing. If you are my friend and someone says to me, Monique, Shannon Sharp wronged me and you my friend, I'm going to call my friend and I can come to me. And I'm going to say, hey, is what they're saying true? And if you get to him and Han, I'm going to tell you, till you fix it, you and I can't talk. Because if you'll do them that way, it'll be a matter of time before you do it to me. So if Steve Harvey is your friend, you call your friend up and you ask him is what our sister saying right man because

if it is we can't do that to her if that's our sister see it took a transgender named t.s madison it was a guy named jamaica carter jamaica carter and our mutual jamaica carter and our friends t.s madison was a mutual friend so jamaica called me said, would you mind doing T.S. Madison's show? I go do T.S. Madison's show. When I tell T.S. Madison when the camera cuts, I said, listen, your friend is wrong. She said, Monique Lee Daniels is my friend. I said, then you need to call your friend and tell him to fix this shit. She said, I will. Within a couple of days, who did I get a call from? Lee Daniels. See, that's a friend. That's a true friend is saying, I love you so much that I want to make sure that's not on your heart or your conscience. Let's fix it. Let's make it right. So when people actually now, when we did the deliverance together, how was it to work with Monique? It was as if we had never parted ways because he fixed it. He owned it and he took accountability for it.

I can't now keep you to the cross because you've owned it. Right. I've had to be forgiven. Right. So I appreciate that someone had grace and mercy with me. So I'm going to have that with other people when they take accountability for what they've done. How much did you make for the role Mary Impression? I was paid $50,000.

That's it? That's it. And I never complained because that's what I signed up for. It was an independent film. Right. So when my friend called me and I'm going to quote him, he said, bitch, this one right here, right here. He said, this shit is crazy. By the time I got to page 10, I called him back.

I said, what the hell is this, Lee? He said, bitch, I know I know he said it's sick after my husband and I read that script he said mama if you play this with no judgment when you say action don't judge the character just become it this is an award-winning yes this is award-winning so with all of that being said, I never complained about the $50,000. I did everything I was supposed to do. No, nothing. It is when they started asking me to become a slave. It is when Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey started asking me to work for free. It is when they started doing the bidding for whomever the gatekeeper was at the time to say we can get her remember the scene in

sparkle you ever seen sparkle with irene carroll and philip michael thomas yeah remember when they was in the car because the jew man was trying to get him to sign over that contract and he kept shaking his head like you will not get me to turn my back on this woman right that's what this is we ain't turning our back my husband ain't turning his back. He ain't signing up for something he know ain't right. Right. And people have a problem with that. And we got to keep speaking on it, Shannon, because the next one's coming for real.

I would hate for you to have to sit another sister in this chair. Mm-hmm. And she tell you the same story. So, considering you won the Oscar, normally when you win the Oscar, not saying you're going to win another or get Oscar worthy scripts, but there's normally a run where you win, you know, two, three films. Now, Monique, that 50,000 is 500 or a million or two million. 50,000 is 500 or a million or 2 million. You feel, feel that you were blackballed from that point.

And Monique did not make the money. What she should have been compensated for future roles. Let's tie it all back in. Okay. Okay. You have a man that says a lot on you. Yes. I put a rumor out there.

Yeah. And I said, I was going to apologize. But then you have another man that comes back when I'm offered empire and says, Mo, they said you're difficult to work with. You're going to be a problem. Where would they get that from? Well, somebody that's as powerful as Tyler. Okay. So now I'm scratched from that. Yeah. Right. Now, when it comes to movies, I'm a difficult person to work with. Anybody ever had a problem with me? They never said they say.

Did anybody say that prior to pressure? Yes. No, not prior to pressure. Right. I've never had a problem with nobody. As long as I was saying, yes, you good. The moment you start challenging, we got a problem. What about the Parker?

What about Moesha? Had anybody said anything about Monique's character prior to her not wanting to do international press? What she wasn't contractually obligated to do? Never. Proud of that. Nobody said anything. Never. The only person that could say anything that is a producer is a guy named Will Packer. I did a movie called almost christmas when will packer sat down with my husband and i shannon every other word out his mouth was queen you are queen and the queen and the queen and the queen and we just

want you to do a cameo and here's what we're gonna pay you my husband said will that does not cover monique doing promotions. That covers none of that, brother. This is just for the cameo, okay? Yeah. The director was David Talbert. My husband and David Talbert were college roommates. They were across the hall from one another. Right.

In the script, I was that quick, because it's a cameo. Right. Okay? Yeah. So 99% of the things you heard Aunt May say, it was Monique. It was me ad libbing. Yeah. So ninety nine percent of the things you heard may say it was Monique. It was me at living. Yeah. OK. Because it's a cameo. Right.

When we had a meeting with Will Packer, Will Packer says, if you do this for me, I'll give you a three picture deal and a sitcom. Now, we have all of this in writing. It's all in. What were you? What were you? What were you? What were you needing to do? A press? press you're gonna need to do press for it you're gonna need to promote it or just you just do the just do the cameo that is what was agreed upon we were going to do a cameo for the amount of money that he said they were going to pay no problem well what they did was they kept spreading it out they kept spreading this character out we want you in this scene and that's in this scene but there ain't no cameo. Cameo. OK. OK. David Talbot is our friend. We don't want to make this bad for David Talbot. So we said, OK, no problem.

Now let's talk about the treatment. While we're on that set of Almost Christmas, there were a few things that was happening that I took issue with. Will Packer is a producer. He came on that set and tried to give us a direction while the director was standing right there. I said, Will Packer, I will not allow you to do that. You would never do that to Steven Spielberg. You would never do that to a white director. You as a producer won't just walk in and give a direction.

So I will not take direction from you. If you have something you want to give to me, you give it to the director and you have the director to give it to me. You are disrespectful to him. Now, I had a meeting in David Talbot's trailer with Will Packer, David Talbot and the first AD because they were being disrespectful to this black man. And I was not going to allow that to happen. I had a conversation with the first AD and I pulled him outside. I said, listen, brother, when it's your turn, I won't let nobody do it to you. But what I'm not going to do is stand by and watch you give a direction after the director gives a direction. It confuses the cast and it's disrespectful. And to that black man's credit, his eyes filled up with water. And he said, I appreciate you for having this conversation with me. OK, so we'll pack and I now at odds because I'm seeing how this brother's acting. I'm in my trailer. My assistant at the time, her name was Robin. Right. Robin is in her 50s. She's in my trailer with her shoes off. She's on the computer. We'll pack a friend or I'm not sure what title to give her. OK, she comes into the trail. Now, in this trailer, it is me, my hairstylist, makeup artist and my assistant. This young lady who we're all old enough to be her mother. She comes and looks at my assistant and said, what's your shoes doing off?

You and your trailer. Why do you care? I said, excuse me. you're out of order you don't come in here questioning nobody in my trailer as a matter of fact and her energy was not that i'm playing it was what you i said as a matter of fact i need you to go get will because i'm not even going to have this conversation with you i'm going to talk to your boss. When Will Packer comes into that trailer for us to talk, do you know what that man says to me and my hairstylist and my makeup artist and my assistant? I am the head nigga in charge. Everything stops with me. I said, well, I want to let you know this, Will. You're going to hear that you're the head nigga in charge for me as many times as

I can tell people that's what you said. I said, and furthermore, you need going to hear that you're the hit nigga in charge for me as many times as I can tell people. That's what you said. I said, and furthermore, you need to check your assistant because this is my space. We weren't in your trailer without shoes off. We're in my space without shoes off. But why would he come? Why would he come to you with that type of energy? What led him to say that when all you asked his assistant to do was to go get him because she's questioning why people in your trailer have the truth. That's a good one, because what I said to him was, who do we need to talk to? This young lady can't be up in here like that.

And that's when he became the head nigga in charge. And then I said, who are you, the head nigga in charge of? We have Danny Glover on this set. We have a legend and an icon. Are you the head nigga in charge of him? Are you the head nigga in charge of? We have Danny Glover on this set. We have a legend and an icon. Are you the head nigga in charge of him? Are you the head nigga in charge of Kimberly Elise? Are you the head nigga in charge of Gabrielle Union? Are you the head nigga in charge of J.B. Smooth?

Who are you the head nigga in charge of? So he tried to laugh it and joke it. I said, uh-uh. I don't play that way, brother. I said, the food is bad. Like, what we doing here? The food was slopped. So when they say they didn't have any food, the food we had, nobody ever ate that food because it was just like you can feed them anything.

Now, here's where it gets even better. Remember how Taraji said the trailers were infested? Yes. Our trailers blew up. Wow. They blew up. Now, whenever this airs, I'm'm gonna post the trailers blowing up so the people can see right but they blew up and if any of us were in those trailers we would have been gone

right the trailers blew up now when i was smelling the gas we went to the brothers that was hooking up the trailer wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone, so I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media.

That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen.

Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. And we said, hey, we smell gas. They said, Mo, we let him know, talking about the head nigga in charge, we let him know. He just said, OK, and walked away. I said, he what?

He just said, OK, and walked away. The trailers blew up. Did Wolfpacker reach out to anybody? I can't say he didn't reach out to me and say, hey, is everything OK? Did you lose anything? And is everything good? The only thing they wanted to know from me was where was Aunt May's wigs? Huh?

Where are those wigs? Nobody asked. Not the studio. Not Will Packer. Not nobody. Wow. Said, are you good? Did you lose anything? I said, the wigs blew up in the explosion. So to understand what we have to deal with and to understand most people are

too afraid to say it out loud that we are being mistreated. This is not right. Right. So if that means y'all want to play with me, I don't want to play with you either. Let's be clear. I don't want to play with somebody that don't care if I've blown up. What if we were in those trailers?

What do y'all say to my family? What do you say? So with Precious, I owe no one anything with almost Christmas. I owed you nothing. However, I did it because we had a relationship with a brother named David Tower and we didn't want to send him through no drama,

no nothing. So we went along with it. Other than that, Shannon shop, there is no one that can say that will sit in my face or my husband's face and say, we had a bad experience with you i read that you said you read you this is a chapter of forgiveness that's your thing a chapter i didn't say that that's what the guy in hollywood reporter said

okay don't put words in my mouth that's not what i said that's what his ass said okay what did you say that's what he said listen what would it take Mo what would it take for Mo Neat to forgive Oprah and Tyler Perry be accountable be accountable and for Tyler Perry

you want Tyler Perry to say what he said on that tape you want him to say that publicly. And he cost my family millions. And you want to be compensated. Yes. I want to be very clear about that. If someone cost you millions, do you want that back? Absolutely.

So I'm no different than you. Right. Especially when I've done nothing wrong. Right. Especially when you've admitted that you've lied. Especially when you've admitted that you started a rumor. Yes. You need to compensate

me and my family. For Oprah. For Oprah Winfrey, you owe me an apology. See, Shannon, Oprah and I had a private conversation about our mothers. This is the part people don't know. I shared with that woman what me

and my mother were going through. Now, my mother's no longer here. Right? And I shared with Oprah Winf me and my mother were going through. Now, my mother's no longer here. Right? And I shared with Oprah Winfrey what we were going through and how I felt. And I was, you know, you're trying to balance it out because it's your mother. And I shared that with you. And I shared with her my family and what the dynamic was. And you don't tell me you're going to have my goddaring parents.

I was getting ready to say goddang, baby. It was right there. But you don't tell me you're going to have my god there in parents. I was getting ready to say god damn, baby, it was right there. But you don't tell me you're going to have my mother and my father on your show and you think that that's just okay and the way you try to apologize in front of a group of women, if you think I've done anything wrong,

you're going to stop that. Right. I am very proud of what you've accomplished in your life. We respect everybody but we over respect no one and oprah winfrey walks around like i can't be checked i i won't admit to that i'm wrong i'm a firm believer mo no one is beyond reproach no one at all so when you keep saying what is it i'm gonna keep answering you the same exact way so if you your camera, I'm going to talk to my camera and see how they split the screen. And we're going to invite him at the same time. You talk to him first.

Tyler, Oprah, I would greatly appreciate it if you two guys would come on Club Shea Shea. We sit down, we have a conversation. This is not an interview. This is not hard hitting. I want you to tell your truth, Miss Oprah, Tyler, tell your truth and we can get to the bottom of this because, hey, we got an icon here sitting on this couch and she's hurting. Oprah and Tyler, I want to say I appreciate my brother Shannon Shaw for saying what he just said. And I want to clear something up. I'm not hurt personally. I'm hurt for our community. I'm hurt that y'all would allow yourselves to sit in something that you know that you've done wrong and not say anything. That helps us not.

So Brother Shea Shea have said, y'all come on the sofa. Oprah, this liquor is good. Okay, and I understand you like cranberry and vodka. Okay, Roosevelt Cartwright told me your drink that you like. And you know, he told me some other things with the drink that you like. Come on, Uncle Shea Shea. Let's have a conversation. Well, you took yours all the way down,

and I cannot. Okay? Okay? I cannot. I cannot do that. You already did a good job. Thank you, sugar. Now, when we get ready to wrap up, I'm going to give you an exclusive on something that don't nobody know. Okay? Don't nobody know this, and it's going to be something. It's going to this. And it's going to be something.

It's going to be something. It's going to be something. I want to get, I know it's traumatic. And if you don't want to have to relive it, you don't have to what you went through with your brother. Yes. When you going through that,

how is that impacting you during that time? Because I think you're seven to 13. You better do your damn homework, Shannon Shaw. And the impact that it's had on you and your relationship with men. Oh. Shannon trying to be a journalist. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Shannon, I don't just look at you. Oh, Shannon trying to be a journalist. Shannon, I told him to look at you.

God damn it, you see he trying to cut my bubble walkers. Get off my brother. What impact. Wow. Remember when you said, and I don't know if you said this, so i don't want to quote it because i could be wrong but someone said shanna sharp don't mess with black women and before you go any further can i say this please my grandmother told me something when i was a little boy she said boy never chase a lie come on baby come on come on and you never said that right okay so that's why i said i got black kids that's what i said i said that baby's black black yes they not confusing

we ain't trying to see if she latin or dominican they black black they mama got black black everybody that she had to mess with was black black right yeah black black, black, black, black. Okay. So they, there's this thing with us that you can't tell us nothing. And oftentimes when a black woman has been traumatized, she's guarded. Now you take a black woman that's been traumatized and now she got a little bit of money. And you take black men, some of them,

that is impressed with the money. So I can say to you what I want to. Not being totally disrespectful, but you know who's running this. You know how we do this.

I've always had an aggressive personality. Yes. I have always jumped with, if I think you're trying to violate. So to say, what did that do to me? It, it made me like this and it made me say, I'll get you before you can get me because I know what it's like to not be in control of what you're taking from me. I know what it's like to be in a position where there's nothing I can do. When it came to men, baby I had my my share okay I'm not saying I

was no whore but I was close because you a football player with a lot of money when you go into a city and you was in your prime, you had your pick. It's no different for a woman. When I went to a city, everybody wanted to be Professor Ogilvy. Hey, and I would pick him. Okay, you look like you could be. But see here, the thing, now all of a sudden, you being this fat black woman, it ain't a problem. Remember, I remember you said it ain't a problem. Remember,

I remember you said it wasn't a problem. It was never a problem with me being a fat black woman because real black men, they like them in all states and sizes, all complexes. It is these new Negroes that get into, she gotta be this way, she gotta be that way, but real black men,

if you can bake a pound cake naked, what y'all talking about what you talk about but what it did though was and this is why i feel the way i feel about my husband okay i remember him saying to me one night because when we first got together i was i was a handful Shannon. And that's when I was really sick in the way that I thought. And he said, check this out. You've used your brother molesting you as a crutch for your bad behavior. He said, and I won't allow that. He said, when you was a little girl, there was nothing you can do about it.

But now as a grown woman, every choice and decision you make, it is yours. And I will not allow you to keep on saying because of my brother because at what point do you take accountability for you baby that grew me up in that night that grew my ass up that night so fast because i wanted i wanted to hear what my psychiatrist was saying to me i understand my husband was like check this out check this out you are in control of you. Every choice and decision you make, everyone you lay down with, that was your choice. You've never come back to me and said you were raped as a grown woman. You've never said that.

So stop holding on to that crutch. Stop holding on to that victim. Because this happened to me. I'm mad for days and I come up out of that. And when I went to the psychiatrist, right? Everything my husband said to me, the psychiatrist said to me, but he said, I needed you to go to somebody that had no dog in the fight because I didn't want you to think I was judging you. I didn't want you to think that because I know the history, I'm pointing my finger. So when I would go to that psychiatrist, Dr. Cassandra Wanzo, she's incredible. Y'all want to know about rear bottom shoes? Let me tell you somebody that's going to get your mind right. Dr. Cassandra Wanzo, this woman was incredible. But every time I would go to session,

everything she said, my husband had already told me. So me and men, I had to come to grips with that. I had to come to grips with being an insecure fat girl. And I had to come to grips with my sister telling me, ain't no man going to ever really want you because you're fat. I had to come to grips with my father was like, listen, I'm here, but I'm really not. I had to come to grips with those things. So my way of coming to grips with those things was now I'm a boss. I'm independent and I'm empowered.

Don't you know I run this? See, I too went to the Oprah Winfrey University of Empowerment. And you don't need a man to make it. I signed up. And I was at the top of the class until I realized I was going to be at empty. I was going to be at with nothing but stuff. I did not want to be the poor little rich girl who have everything but nothing at all. Don't that sound familiar? I did not want to be that,

Shannon. So even for the men, even for the men that I was with, right? You weren't with them. I wasn't? No. Okay. Talk to me, Shannon. Let that liquor use you. I wasn't with them. That was just a body for the lonely. Liquor makes shit sound good, won't it? Liquor will make you not sound like a whore. It was just a body for the lonely. Let me tell you what my husband told me, right? Because I was in tears.

I'm like, you know, I was a whore. I was crying. I was because because when you come to grips with it when you realize how many when you realize what you've done and you got to come to grips with it and now I'm sitting in front of the greatest person I've ever met and I gotta say I have been with this many and my husband looked at me and said mama you ain't no whore. You just have friendly pussy. Didn't he make it right?

That's all I had was friendly pussy. So for you whores out there, you... Friendly pussy. That's what he told me. He made it right. So did you ever have a good relationship with your father? Yes. When I was a little girl. Little. When I was a little girl, my father could do no wrong. When I was a little girl, baby, my father would put me in that car and he would go to the cut rate store and he'd get his liquor and he'd go over to Mr. Johnny's

house. Now, I'm a little girl, right? He'd go over to Mr. Johnny's house and him and Mr. Johnny go on the back and I could smell the reefer, but I didn't know it was reefer, right? And they smoke and they had their little drink they come back out i was attached to him me and my father started having a problem when what he was saying to me wasn't making sense what did he say and now i'm about 13 okay he was just he was he was a bullshitter right but he was a good sounding bullshitter right and so as a kid you'd be like my father know everything but once i started growing up and i started seeing the treatment that he gave my mother never physically abusive but mentally they abused one another i won't just put it on but once i started questioning

him on just some of his decisions and choices i became the bad person. And I went to my grandmother one time, Mimi. I talk about her in that special. You have a very close relationship with your grandmother. Right. And my father, this was one incident that sent me to my grandmother, bent over crying. I was trying to get a Ford Festiva, right? It was four gears. Okay. It was four years. Right. OK. It was about two dollars. But I didn't have the two dollars. Right. And I needed a cosigner. Right. So I asked my father, please cosign for me to get this for Steve. And I'm a quote him. He said, Nikki, you won't fuck up my credit. And I'm like, well, what have I ever done to make you think I would fuck up your credit?

I pay my rent on time. I'm responsible. I go to work. No. The next week, not only did he co-sign for my sister, he just signed for my sister. Like he put the card in his name. In his name. Right? I go to my grandmother and I'm like, Mimi, why would he do that? She said, Nikki, every parent knows their weakest link and every parent knows the

one that's going to be okay. She said, you're going to be okay. At that point, I wiped my tears and I'm glad he didn't co-sign. I'm glad I had to bust my ass to get it. I'm glad I had to figure it out. I'm glad he didn't just come and rescue it. I had to figure it out. So that's why right now when I sit here and you go through a decade of being blackballed or whatever, you're difficult and all that, it allowed me to keep standing. It allowed me not to go sit on a couch with Oprah Winfrey and say I'm sorry for nothing I've ever done to you. That's what those lessons taught me. Stand in it and stand strong unapologetically. You speak a lot during this interview, spoke a lot about cursing and the trauma. How do we break that generational trauma, that curse that is in our community?

What we've said from the beginning, and that's truth. It's just the truth. We get so comfortable based off of lies that the lies become the truth. I think if we just started dealing with the truth. Address it. Address it. Even when it doesn't put you in a good light, it eventually does put you in a good light because then people start talking about your honor and your character and your integrity. If I've wronged you please tell me right please tell me and then show me where i've wronged you if you can say monique this is what you did right here then i owe you an apology but if our community dealt in truth how much further would we be that's it that's that's how i think we make it better

we deal in the absolute truth but sometimes you know it's kind of like what i tell people i would explain to someone i said just imagine you went to the doctor and lord forbid this happened you have cancer but we're not going to treat it it's going to go away no doctor would tell you that you have something going on we're not going to talk about it it'll just go away that's what they bank on that you have something going on. We're not going to talk about it. It'll just go away. That's what they bank on. That's what they bank on. And too many of our black women have gone to their graves.

They've left here in despair. They've left here broken hearted, broken, broke down. And we got a chance to see it in live and in person with our beautiful sister to Raji. down and we got a chance to see it in live and in person with our beautiful sister Taraji Henson what gave you the courage your Netflix they offered you one thing you found out they had gave someone 10 times that no 20 times come on 26 26 times that and you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not going to do that. We're not going to do that. We're going to do fair.

That's what we do. I mean, you speak about diversity and you talk about doing the right thing. OK, this is an opportunity for you to put that instead of being lip service. OK, put pen to paper. Let's make it right. I didn't know any other way. I didn't know any other way. See, when I heard Wanda Sykes say, I support you, I just want somewhere else.

I don't know how to do that, especially when it's wrong. If we keep just going somewhere else, we'll keep getting mistreated. Right. But when you hear Amy Schumer and this was not something I found out, they publicly said it. It was it was pride. Right. We paid Amy Schumer 11 million. She came back and said, I'm not a legend or icon, but I should get at least two more million. And they gave her $13 million. Well, when Netflix says to me, you are a legend.

You are an icon. When Robbie Prowl says that, well, why is my legend and icon different than these people legend and icon? That's all. And when I say we were able to come to the table and we were able to make it make sense and we were able to do the special and we appreciated them saying, listen, how can we work this out? Now, you know what happens with that? People were having call-ins when I said, this is not right. I was donkey of the day.

Remember that? I was donkey of the day. The breakfast nubs called me was donkey of the day remember that i was donkey of the day the breakfast nubs called me the donkey of the day that's what they said and they had a whole calling about how i was donkey of the day but you didn't do the same thing when you found out we settled now all of a sudden nobody know what a settlement is i mean well we don't even really it was really really quick we just won't throw it away so with that netflix special it was just it was just like no guys i gotta i gotta stand up because if not that little girl coming behind me for real right that has that resume i want to let her know you can fight, baby. Right. You just don't have to say, okay, you can stand. Would you be willing to do another Netflix special? Yeah, I had a great time.

I had a great time. I had a great time. Now, for me, specials are specials. Right. It's something special. Right. So, you know, we'll see. Right.

You know, I wanted to ask people that I hear our community called, you know, the community called me up. Yes. They call you auntie. Yes. Do you wear that with a badge of courage like I do? I wear it. That was such an honor for you babies to put auntie on my name. Do y'all know how that made me feel? And I'm not the auntie that's going to tell you the shit that you want to hear. I'm the auntie that's going to tell you what you need to hear. So for the things that I have said about our community and our babies and our sisters, I cannot back down because y'all gave me the title. I didn't ask for it.

But when they gave it to me, Shannon, that was the universe saying, you now sit in that seat. You are now responsible. That's why I must speak out and I must speak loudly and I must say it to the top of my lungs because God damn if Fannie Lou Hamer didn't do it for me. God damn if Eartha Kitt didn't do it for me. God damn if Moms Mabel didn't do it for me. The ones that came before us and there's a woman still alive named Sylvia Tremor Morrison. That woman got paid in a Coca-Cola. That woman got paid in a Coca-Cola at her next gig and five dollars.

She was the first black woman to write for Saturday Night Live. But they have her listed as a production assistant and she's still alive. That's why I speak the way I speak, because I will not let them wash her out of history as if she never existed. Wow. Dating. What what advice is somebody if a group of women were in here and is like, come on, they talk to us. This dating thing, because this is Mo is different now than when you were when you were now. It's different, baby.

I'm grateful I'm not 56 and trying. What you trying to say? I'm looking right at you, Sean. I ain't backing down. You better take your old ass and get somebody to love you. Damn, Mo. Let me tell you what my baby need. He need him an old fat gal

who can bake good cakes, make some smothered turkey wings, who gonna rub his feet at the nighttime, okay, and gonna have a sip of his cognac to make him feel better about himself when he come home at night. That's what Shannon need. You don't need no 26-year-old girl. You don't need no 36-year-old girl. I don't. This is your auntie talking to you.

Take your old ass and get you an old bitch out there that can love your old. You're trying to hang out with these young bitches, and you can't do it, Shannon. You just can't do it. When they want you to go for a fourth round, you're looking at her like, bitch, listen, I need you. You want some money to go to Starbucks? Because I can't go no further. But if you get your older girl, when you get to that fourth round,

she's going to say, hold on. Hold on. Let me go get you some eggs and cheese And some toast with apple butter cuz that's gonna get your energy back up. I'm talking right to you shit And I know oh yeah, she'd be good to you her name is Ella Dora now when you know somebody I love you old school now miss Ella Dora told me to tell you She said I think he liked red velvet oh i do i do i say miss eladora if he do like it she said you let him know i got something for him yeah she don't have no teeth come on pick your glass up and clap come on now these young gals will

bite you okay yeah okay i got guess i gotta come on home come on home shannon and y'all stop putting lies out about my brother because I was in my feelings when y'all said he didn't date black women. Y'all stop that shit. You stop. And then he might throw a white one in there every now and again. And it's okay. It's okay. Because sometimes, you know, we ain't into everything. We don't do everything.

So sometimes Uncle Shay Shay need a space of life. He need to go cross the street but he always going to come back. That's all we say to you Oprah and Tyler. Come on home. Come on home. Come on home. Come on home. Sierra says a lot of women talk about Sierra Ferrell but when a God sends a good man

they don't want them. Is that true? I cannot speak for them. I can only speak for me because when the universe sent mine to me, baby. You were ready. When he sent that man to me, even this morning, I thanked the universe

for that man right there. Before I came on air with you, I was talking to him. I know. He said, Mama, you heard me talking. I did. I said, hey, Daddy.

Yeah, I did. Because we've not been trained. We've not been conditioned to understand you. We've been trained to fight against you. We've been trained to go against you. We've watched our mamas, our grandmamas, our aunties speak ill of a black man. So now when a black man comes and he good, you waiting for the bad because grandmama told you black men wasn't shit. Mama told you black men wasn't shit.

Your auntie said black men ain't shit. So all you have in your mind is black men ain't shit. And so when you get that beautiful black man, he's now got to say to you, erase everything they taught you. Right. Because I'm here. Or then you treat him like that. And then he goes. Now you're mad because he didn't want you to white girl, Shannon.

Now y'all start treating Shannon good. Okay. Start treating him good. Now, Shannon, I got to catch my plane okay this is the last one unless you want to send me back on your jack i wish i had one i wish i had one but i'm gonna get you out here on this see what y'all did you heard what shaq saying shaq saying they asked shaq should a man open up to a woman shaq said no he says because if you do they're gonna use it against you he said because if i break if i about something, they're going to say the first time they get mad, they're going to say, see, you're crying because your daddy said what he said. How do you take advice from a man who has no woman? And I love Shaq.

But how do you take advice from my brother that has no one? Okay. If you have that person in your life and you say, listen, I'm dealing, I'm going through. Who else do you talk to at nighttime in your pillow talk? Who else do you share your life with? Who are you sharing your life with, Shaq? Do you tell another man about your situation? And does he make you feel better? Like, who do you share your life with? So I don't agree with that at all. And I love my brother, but I don't agree with that at all and I love my brother but I don't agree with that I think that makes division because if I gotta call my girl and I talk to my husband right when I heard Oprah say and these are her words not mine she said when I be stressed out and I be

going through it after the show I will come home and Gail could calm me down and put me to sleep what you say what's that okay then you said it i'm gonna sit nope nope oh i'll get oprah on here i'm gonna get oprah on the show but those are her words so i i i believe that partnership is partnership all the way around when i leave this earth there's nothing my husband will not know about me and the other way around did you know after your first two marriages you're gonna get married again yes because my first two marriages, you're going to get married again? Yes. Because my first two marriages were just marriages of my first marriage was you just couldn't have the milk without buying the cow. Right. That was the first marriage.

And we were boxers. We were Friday night fights. OK. OK. We were Friday. One domestic violence. We was Friday night fights. OK.

I took a L sometime, but sometime I didn't. Right. OK. OK. OK. OK. OK. The second one was I couldn't afford to pay my rent. Right. And I didn't want to have a boyfriend. Right. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. The second one was I couldn't afford to pay my rent.

Right. And I didn't want to have a boyfriend. Right. So that's why I said this is the first time I've really been married. Right. Tell me the story that you wanted to share that nobody else knows that you were going to share with us. Y'all ready for this?

I'm ready for this. I want you to move in. That man that was sitting right here on this couch, his name is Cat Williams. Yes. Cat Williams and I have a relationship. We're fraternal twins. That's all. That's it?

That's it. That is my twin, my spiritual, fraternal, non-biological brother. We are twins, baby. Yes, we are. That was it and that was all. Don't nobody know that, but you Cat Williams don't even know the shit. That's what makes it so beautiful. So, Cat.

I'm going to call him and say, hey, I met your sister for the very first time. I need you to tell him. Monique, do you want to promote anything? You got anything you want to promote? Here's what I'll say. Just keep watching. Just keep watching.

I'm promoting life. Just keep watching. And I love y'all for real, my babies. Thank you for watching. Monique, ladies andall for real, my babies. Thank you for watching. Monique, ladies and gentlemen. Mo, thank you so much. I really see you next time.