In The Hollywood Reporter’s Oscar edition a few weeks ago, Mo’nique wrote an essay describing what happened to her following her 2010 Best Supporting Actress Oscar win for Precious. Mo’nique rather famously refused to “play the game” and really campaign for her Oscar nomination. She didn’t attend many screenings, did very little press, didn’t shake a lot of hands, etc. There were even stories that Mo’nique wanted “appearance fees” for showing up to various events, and that when she did come to some events, she was rude and unpleasant. Frankly, I’m sort of surprised that she did end up winning the Oscar that year, but whatever. It seemed like Hollywood got caught up and for the past five years, Mo’nique has barely worked.

In her THR essay, she described being up for various notable parts (in The Butler, the Richard Pryor bio-pic, and Empire – although producers now claim she was never offered a part), but seeing those parts disappear suddenly. She wrote that Lee Daniels had told her that she had been “blackballed” from Hollywood because of her crappy attitude. When THR got in touch with Lee Daniels, he pretty much confirmed that he told her that too. Well, now Mo’nique is telling Good Morning America that she really doesn’t think she has been blackballed. Wait, what? Note: Mo’nique goes Full Kellan Lutz by referring to herself in the third person throughout this interview.

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Mo’nique says, in part, that: “People were saying someone needs to teach Monique a lesson because she’s not playing the game. And she’s going to get in her own way of winning this award because it seems like she’s choosing her family over Hollywood…” Except that she really wasn’t choosing her family over Hollywood – I remember that awards season very well. She kept talking about how she was working on all of this other stuff and that’s why she didn’t want to campaign. When asked if she believes Hollywood has shunned her, she said:

“I had no idea because I don’t think that Hollywood has turned its nose up to me. I think that those are feelings that Mr. Daniels is having and then he said there were things that Monique, she didn’t thank the producers and the studio. And that’s just not things that you do. Well, it had nothing to do with the producers nor the studio. Mr. Daniels had a problem that I didn’t say his name the night of the Oscar awards.”

Speaking about Mo’Nique, the critically-acclaimed director previously told CNN, “It’s show business. And you got to play ball.” Her response?

“I appreciate that comment,” she said. “Because he’s absolutely right. It is show business. A game does have to be played but why can’t we play the fair game? Why can’t we play the right game? If you’re asking am I willing to put my integrity on the line for Hollywood? No.”

She continued, insisting that she’s still getting calls for work, in spite of Daniels’ remarks.

“Again, if I had, the scripts and the calls would have stopped coming because Hollywood is a small community,” she says in response to the claims that she’s “soured” relationships. “They never stopped coming.”

“Please don’t feel bad or sorry for Mo’Nique,” she continued before concluding, “Because Mo’Nique doesn’t feel bad or sorry for Mo’Nique. You would be wasting your energy.”

[From E! News]

I really don’t understand this play from Mo’nique. She sounds as out-of-touch as she did during the 2010 awards season. She was the one who started this ball rolling when she wrote her essay for THR. Lee Daniels was responding to what she wrote about their conversations, and now she’s acting like he’s the petty drama queen, like he’s the one attacking her out of nowhere (when really, she’s the petty drama queen). I think she’s legitimately pissed off that Lee Daniels has promised her certain roles and then he suddenly recasts those parts (with Oprah, for the most part). This isn’t so much about Mo’nique and whether “Hollywood” has mistreated her, it’s some feud between Lee Daniels and Mo’nique.

The thing is, if you don’t want to play the game, fine, don’t play the game. Don’t promote your work, don’t shake those hands, don’t go to awards shows and don’t do press. Let your work speak for itself. The problem is not that Mo’nique won’t play the game, it’s that she plays the game very badly. She thinks she can reinvent the wheel and the only people who get to do that are the people who have already played the game, paid their dues and won many times over.

Photos courtesy of WENN.