Academy Award Winner Mo'Nique "Blackballed" for "Not Playing the Game"

It's been quite some time since we heard from Academy Award winner Mo'Nique, who dominated the Supporting Actress race back in 2009. It seemed like she was on top of the world with her pick of some prime projects. There was that rumor about the Hattie McDaniel's biopic directed by her "Precious" director Lee Daniels, but nothing ever really materialized. And then there was that wonderful trailer for "Blackbird" that premiered sometime last year, but since then things have been quiet.

It's clear after today why. According to the Oscar winner in an essay published by The Hollywood Reporter, ever since she won her trophy, she has been "blackballed" by the industry.

What exactly does this mean? Well, if you remember back to 2009 when Mo'Nique began winning literally everything, there were a lot of stories published about how she refused to 'campaign'. What this means is, that aside from the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and the Oscars (the major events) Mo'Nique was largely absent from events promoting the film; she did very little press and didn't do the whole dog and pony show that many Academy hopefuls do during awards season (see Jennifer Aniston and her promotion of "Cake").

Mo'Nique's reasoning was very clear, and in her Oscar acceptance speech, she thanked the Academy for focusing on the performance, and not "the politics". It seemed that Oscar had done right (and they did), however, it seems that maybe she wasn't quite out of the woods yet.

According to the Oscar winner, parts like Oprah's in "The Butler", a role in the Richard Pryor biopic and even the hit show "Empire" were offered to her, but taken off the table immediately once producers and big wigs became involved:

"I got a phone call from Lee Daniels maybe six or seven months ago. And he said to me, 'Mo'Nique, you've been blackballed.' And I said, "I've been blackballed? Why have I been blackballed?' And he said, 'Because you didn't play the game.'"

Lee Daniels was reached for a comment shortly after, who had this to say about the story:
“Mo'nique is a creative force to be reckoned with. Her demands through Precious were not always in line with the campaign. This soured her relationship with the Hollywood community. I consider her a friend. I have and will always think of her for parts that we can collaborate on. However, the consensus among the creative teams and powers thus far were to go another way with these roles.”

Of 2009, she stood head and shoulders above her competitors; had it gone to anyone else, it would have been an embarrassment, and I think the Academy knew that, which is why she won. Only Anna Kendrick's work of the nominated line up was awards caliber; had Mo'Nique not won she would have easily walked away with it.

According to the interview, "Blackbird" is still happening; Mo'Nique claims they are going the independent route, which isn't always the kiss of death for films (*coughcough* Precious *cough*), so hopefully it can become a Sundance phenomenon of sorts and get Mo'Nique back in the game. That producers would want to sacrifice the quality of a project on the basis she didn't kiss up to them is embarrassing on their part. The story isn't all quite clear, but taken at face value, it proves Hollywood is a farce and completely ignorant. These people need to be reminded at all times of their importance. Though she's certainly lost out on a number of projects, good on Mo'Nique for sticking to her morals and integrity.

I'm looking forward to the eventual release of Blackbird even more now.