Listen Again: Mo'Nique

Summary

Podcast Summary: Club Shay Shay – "Listen Again: Mo'Nique"

Episode Overview

In the "Listen Again: Mo'Nique" episode of Club Shay Shay, NFL legend Shannon Sharpe engages in a candid and intense conversation with the acclaimed comedian and actress Mo'Nique. Released on December 18, 2024, this episode delves deep into Mo'Nique's tumultuous experiences within the entertainment industry, addressing themes of representation, accountability, and personal resilience.

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Introduction to Mo'Nique

Shannon Sharpe warmly welcomes Mo'Nique, highlighting her illustrious career adorned with accolades such as an Oscar, Golden Globe, and multiple NAACP Image Awards. Mo'Nique is celebrated not only for her comedic prowess but also for her roles as an executive producer, writer, and influential figure in Hollywood.

Notable Quote:

• Shannon Sharpe [04:03]: “She's a talented host, executive producer, writer, and an author. A versatile entertainer. A famed Hollywood star, a powerful name in the industry. A veteran standup comedian, a mother, a wife, a legend. The one, the only, Mo'Nique.”

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Challenges Faced by Black Women in Hollywood

The conversation quickly shifts to the systemic challenges Mo'Nique has encountered as a black woman in the entertainment industry. Mo'Nique expresses frustration over being undervalued and misrepresented, particularly criticizing influential figures like Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey for perpetuating negative stereotypes and not holding themselves accountable for past wrongdoings.

Notable Quotes:

• Mo'Nique [02:17]: "Shannon Sharpe don't mess with black women."
• Shannon Sharpe [12:59]: “If we keep operating like that, Shannon, you're gonna have a whole lot of us sitting right here in this same seat, almost telling the same story.”

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Accountability and the Importance of Truth-Telling

A significant portion of the discussion centers around the necessity for accountability within the black community and the entertainment sector. Shannon emphasizes the importance of addressing wrongdoings openly, rather than allowing harmful rumors and lies to fester unchecked. Mo'Nique echoes this sentiment, advocating for transparency and the courage to confront uncomfortable truths to foster genuine progress.

Notable Quotes:

• Shannon Sharpe [13:36]: “What we say is the message. People have a hard time hearing a five-foot-five giant tell the truth.”
• Mo'Nique [37:37]: “Do you believe the punishment that was bestowed upon Monique was not only to punish you, you saw it. But to deter others from saying what you said?”

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Personal Struggles and Resilience

Mo'Nique shares deeply personal stories about her past, including experiences with family dynamics, abuse, and the impact of these traumas on her professional life. She discusses how these challenges shaped her determination to succeed and advocate for herself and others within the industry.

Notable Quotes:

• Mo'Nique [10:32]: “They tried to fight my ass in the 12th grade, Shannon. They surrounded me, a group of them, okay? Wanted to fight on me.”
• Shannon Sharpe [16:22]: “But I’m a firm believer moving that everybody don't play the same. And someone once told me, what is joke to you is death to someone else.”

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Industry Practices and Fair Compensation

The duo critically examines the disparity in compensation and treatment between black women and their white counterparts in Hollywood. Shannon recounts her experiences with shows like The Parkers, highlighting how despite the show's financial success, she and her co-star were underpaid and overlooked for fair recognition.

Notable Quotes:

• Shannon Sharpe [89:04]: “And by 2009, the Parkers had made $800 million.”
• Mo'Nique [89:38]: “But you didn't do the same thing when you found out we settled. Now, no nobody know what a settlement is.”

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Forgiveness and Moving Forward

Towards the end of the episode, Shannon and Mo'Nique discuss the themes of forgiveness and healing within the community. They stress the importance of addressing past grievances to pave the way for a more unified and empowered black community, free from the shackles of generational trauma and division.

Notable Quotes:

• Shannon Sharpe [173:53]: “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.”
• Mo'Nique [174:04]: “Just imagine you went to the doctor and... No doctor would tell you that you have something going on. It’s going to just go away.”

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Conclusion and Key Takeaways

The "Listen Again: Mo'Nique" episode serves as a powerful platform for discussing the systemic injustices faced by black women in Hollywood. Through their heartfelt dialogue, Shannon Sharpe and Mo'Nique advocate for transparency, accountability, and unity within the community. The episode underscores the importance of confronting uncomfortable truths to foster genuine change and empowerment.

Final Notable Quote:

• Shannon Sharpe [174:27]: “We deal in the absolute truth. If I've wronged you, please tell me. Let me explain and make it right.”

---

This episode of Club Shay Shay is a compelling listen for anyone interested in understanding the intricate dynamics of the entertainment industry, especially concerning representation and accountability for black women. Shannon Sharpe and Mo'Nique offer a raw and unfiltered look into the challenges and triumphs that shape their professional and personal lives.

Transcript

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Shannon Sharpe don't mess with black women.

[Mo'Nique]

My grandmother told me something when I was a little boy. She say, boy never chase a lie.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Come on. I got black kids. That's what I said. I said, them baby's black. Black. All my life. Been grinding all my life.

[Mo'Nique]

Sacrifice, hustle.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Paid the price, won a slice. Got to roll a dice that's why all my life I been grinding all my life all my life Been grinding all my life Sacrifice hustle paid the price won a slice got the rolling dice that's why all my life I've been grinding all my life.

[Mo'Nique]

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[Mo'Nique]

Terms at sportsbook.draftkings.com basketballterms hello. Welcome to another episode of Club Shay. I am your host, Shannon Sharp. I'm also the proprietor of Club Shake. And the young lady that's stopping by for conversation on a drink today is one of the best loved comedians. She's one of the most decorated actors. She won an Oscar, a Golden Globe. She's a British Academy, film, theater and Arts award. She's a Scripps Howard Guild winner, NAACP Image Award winner. She's been nominated for a Primetime Emmy and a Grammy. She's a talented host, executive producer, writer and an author. A versatile entertainer. A famed Hollywood star, a powerful name in the industry. A veteran standup comedian, a mother, a wife, a legend. The one, the only, Monique.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wow. Wow. No one does that better, baby.

[Mo'Nique]

Thank you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Do it again. Say all that again, baby.

[Mo'Nique]

Hello. Welcome to another episode of Club Shay Shay. I am your host, Shannon Shawnell.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Put them damn cards down and read all that again. Oh, brother. Thank you. Thank you.

[Mo'Nique]

When we stop by, I want to toast you for your amazing, amazing career. Not only in front of the camera, but behind the camera and your standup career. Monique, thanks for stopping by today.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Thank you for Having me, brother. Shay. Shay.

[Mo'Nique]

Thank you. Better drink some water after that one.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. Who. Yes, indeed. Let me just say this before we start.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

This right here, I'm going to talk right to the sisters. One sip, it get you right there. Now I'm back to you, Shay. I'm back to you, baby. That's enough for me, baby. But, oh, sisters, if you're trying to make up with your man, if you're trying to get pregnant, this right here, Shannon Sharp. One sip. Take care of all your woes. Woo, baby. That thing right there.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay, Monique, when you hear everything that I read on the card, what goes through your mind when you hear that?

[Shannon Sharpe]

What goes through my mind when I hear you read that? I'm humbled by that. I'm grateful for that. I've been allowed to share a gift. Cause that's what it is. But when you start reading that, there's a part that says, who is he talking about? And there's another part that says, I'm grateful that I was able to put that work in to achieve those things, but all with humility.

[Mo'Nique]

You said we were talking off camera. You said, I wanna get something. There's something I wanna share with you. And I need to get it off my chairs early.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause that's why I'm looking at you now, like, why you going into that? Cause I told you we could not talk till I dealt with you.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay, listen.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, so let me say this to you. The day I watched Skip Bayless lose himself with you, and that's what he did, he lost himself. And when I watched Skip Bayless say to you, put them goddamn glasses back on, boy. Now, I know he didn't say, goddamn, boy, but that's what everybody heard. And I was waiting for you to snatch his ass across that table, baby, and give it to him. I was like, shannon, this is the perfect time. I don't condone violence, right? I don't say be violent. But that day, I was in my feelings for two days. Me and my grandbaby could not watch you for two days. And my husband had to say, mama, let's talk about this. Look at Shannon Shaw. He retired in 2004, but he could still get on that field and run touchdowns, tackles, everything. Had he snatched Skip Bayless across that table, he would have died in Shannon's arms that day, right? So brother Shayshe handled that, right? Now we can talk. Okay. I just had to get that off of me because I know everybody around the world heard what I heard. No, he didn't Say them words. But we heard it in his mind, and we was looking for you to say spirit, space and opportunity. Skip. Space and opportunity.

[Mo'Nique]

That's that Bmore coming out of you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what? That's your Aunt Mary coming out of me. That's your Aunt Mary coming out of me, baby.

[Mo'Nique]

I got an aunt named Mary. Now, Monique, you and her are a spitting image. I remember the very first time I saw you and my sister and I, we were talking, and my sister looked at me, and I looked at her. I say she's a spitting image of my Aunt Mary. And you are. You are. Hopefully we gonna put pictures up when we. When we run this. So you're from Balt. And I read everything that I read. When you were growing up in Baltimore, what did a young Monique want to be?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Just what I'm doing right now, baby.

[Mo'Nique]

You dreamed of this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Just when I tell you, Shannon, from a little girl, I always wanted to be famous, okay? Because I saw the Jackson 5, okay? And I saw people screaming for them and hollering. And I'm like, damn it. I want them to scream and holler for me, but I couldn't sing. But I knew somewhere I was going to be famous. So I prayed to the universe, just let me be famous. I didn't understand what all came with that. As a little girl, you just see the lights, the glamour, the glitz, and you fall in love with that. So that little girl fell in love with the lights, the glamour, and the glitz. That little girl fell in love with a woman named Oprah Winfrey on a local talk show in Baltimore called People Are Talking. And when I looked at that woman, Shannon, I saw me. I saw a big woman with a big head, big shoulders and big feet. And I said, if that woman can do that, so can I. So that's what that little girl was thinking about from Baltimore.

[Mo'Nique]

Are you the type of person that if you see someone do something one time, that means it can be done again? Cause you saw Oprah do it, you say, well, Oprah do it. Why can't Monique do it?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I think Oprah, when I saw her do it as a little girl, was a push. However, had I not seen Oprah, my dreams would have still been my dreams.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

But when you see somebody that's inside of that space, because how many big black women are on TV even now?

[Mo'Nique]

Correct.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So back then, you didn't see any big black woman on TV that was doing it. So I think had I not seen her, I would have still wanted to do it. But Seeing her, let me say. Okay? It's possible. It's right there, right?

[Mo'Nique]

What was Monique like as a little girl?

[Shannon Sharpe]

What you seeing right now, baby, ain't nothing. I just got. Listen, let me tell you something. A lot of people in this industry don't like me, right?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They didn't like me as a little girl, Shannon. I'm so used to this shit, people didn't like me. Cause I was gonna tell it. I'm going to tell. I'm going to tell on you. So what you saying right now is the same thing you getting? They tried to fight my ass in the 12th grade, Shannon. They surrounded me, a group of them, okay? Wanted to fight on me.

[Mo'Nique]

Why?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because I told the truth. What you tell. I told Andre that that was not Lamar's baby. Because that's what. That's what, Lamont, that ain't your place. Let me tell. Wait a minute, sugar. You gonna calm yourself down, okay? Do you see Shannon losing himself with this? You better back that up. Shannon, let me tell you something, okay? Okay. I'm a person for. Right?

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Mo'Nique]

Mm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And if you tell me something and you say, monique, I've done something to somebody, but don't say nothing, Shannon, I'm gonna need you to fix that. Because if you don't fix it, I'm gonna have to tell that because it's wrong. So when she tells me this is not his baby, but I'm gonna tell him it's his baby, I can't let you do that. That's not right. So what I stand for is right. And I think where we run into a problem in our community, in our group, we get so caught in, well, that's not your place. But you see wrong happening, right? So when you see wrong happening, what you do? Do you just stand back and say, that ain't my business, or do you look and say, well, I knew that wasn't his baby. Now, the baby, 21 years old, and he trying to find his father. Mm. What you gonna do? I'm asking you, what you gonna do?

[Mo'Nique]

Well, honestly, Monique, if somebody say, well, Shannon, I'm gonna tell you something, and I'm gonna tell you this in confidentiality, and I don't want than me, you and this table.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

It stays with me, him and the table.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, let me say this, because I'm gonna go back and forth with your ass. Okay. I would say, before you tell me, did you hurt somebody?

[Mo'Nique]

Okay. Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Before you tell me, is this something that would make me question your character? Before you tell me, you Gotta be clear about what you get ready to tell me. Because if you're getting ready to tell me something and I know that you've done something wrong, I know that you're wrong, and I not say anything. That's why people are allowed to keep harming people for years to come. See Harvey Weinstein?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, there's a lot of people that knew what was happening, but it felt.

[Mo'Nique]

It wasn't their place. It wasn't their place, it wasn't them.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. Until it becomes you. So I think the moment we get into a space, and I was in 11th grade at the time, okay, but when we get into a space where we say, listen, if I know you're doing wrong and I take a position that's not my place, eventually you will succumb to what you support.

[Mo'Nique]

What was your relationship with the young lady that told you this? In confidentiality.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm not gonna focus on. I was in 11th grade. Now I'm 56. But when she told me, I told her, I'm going to tell. See, I'm. That I'm going to tell him what you said. So we clear? I'm going to tell him what you said. Because that's not right.

[Mo'Nique]

Oh, my goodness, Mo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

See, I think that's the problem that we're dealing with right now, Shannon.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

When we know something is wrong, everything Cat Williams sat here and said, right? We all know it to be the truth. However, we get so caught up in, well, I ain't gonna say nothing.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, can you believe he said it? Or can you?

[Mo'Nique]

Or it's the messenger.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's the messenger, baby. We get so caught up in the messenger that we'll overlook the message. People have a hard time hearing a five foot five giant tell the truth. People have a hard time with a Black woman over £200, tell the truth. Because people that look like us, we should just be grateful we got invited to the party. We should just be grateful that someone paid us attention. I've dealt with that my whole life. I've dealt with that. So when you get to a space where you say, listen, I want to be free, I want to be free. I don't want to walk around intimidated, scared, fearful. What might happen, what they going, what they going to say, what they going to do? If it's your story and it's the truth, tell it. Because what you can do is be in a position to prevent it happening to someone else over and over and over again. So if I go back to the 11th grade with that sister who's no longer with us. Rest her with that sister. I would do that again, because if you tell me something and we know it's wrong, but you're gonna pin that on somebody else. Is that right?

[Mo'Nique]

No, it's not right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And what would your Aunt Mary do?

[Mo'Nique]

Bam.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bodique, I swear, Bodique, you're not answering my question. What would your Aunt Mary do?

[Mo'Nique]

Well, she gonna tell it. Cause you gonna tell anything anyway, so they probably know not to tell her.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But that's why you love Aunt Mary. Because Aunt Mary kept it in check, even though you didn't want to tell her. She was gonna tell that baby. You know that's not your daddy, right? We not gonna play like that. You love Aunt Mary.

[Mo'Nique]

I do. The uniqueness of your name, mo hyphen, most of the time, Monique is a singular. It's not. What was that like? Because people say, oh, you trying to be different. You trying to be bougie, you know? Good. Well, you spell your name Monique like everybody else spelled Monique.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I do. That's my stage name. When I'm not on stage, my name is M, O, N, I Q, U, E. When I'm on stage, it's M, O, the little hyphen. And I q, U, E. That's just entertainment.

[Mo'Nique]

Did you not. Do you ever think about changing it to the hyphen?

[Shannon Sharpe]

No. On stage is one person. Off stage is somebody different. And sometimes we get the two mixed up.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

On stage, I am an entertainer.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Off stage, I'm a wife, I'm a mommy, I'm a friend, I'm a sister. I'm these different people, but I keep that stage on the stage.

[Mo'Nique]

How much of stage is actually Monique?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's good. Shay. Shay. That's good. All of the stage is Monique. But there are certain things Monique's gonna say on stage that she wouldn't say off the stage. There are certain things on that st. You know, there have been people that said, oh, she cussed so much. Oh, I'm a performer, I'm an entertainer, and I'm on stage. But no one will ever find an interview of me doing what I do on stage in an interview like I'm having with you, it's two different things, right?

[Mo'Nique]

What type of student was Monique? I read that you were in. I don't know if this is the correct way, but you were in the class that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The slower one.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah. You. You had a couple.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Say it, baby. Now I want you to.

[Mo'Nique]

You want me to spell it out? How about this here. Hey, you got two naps. You had two recesses.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, okay.

[Mo'Nique]

You stayed in the same class.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. But I did not wear a helmet. Okay? Okay.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now, since you want to go there, I did not have to wear that helmet. Baby. Yes, Mon?

[Mo'Nique]

As I sit here with you today, you didn't all of a sudden become this advanced. Why were you in that class?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm not gonna play with you, Shannon. Okay? Some of them damn words Cat was using, I was like, what? I said, oh, he's socking it to him. You know, I never connected with school because I always felt like it wasn't adding up. So when you're trying to teach me about the Boston Tea Party, but people that look like me is at the bottom of the boat, I can't connect to what you're saying. I never connected to because I always felt like something was off when they were teaching me about history. We were always the savages, and we were always the bad people. And then you saw these white people be all the heroes. And as a little girl, I said, something's not adding up. So I don't look at that as a bad thing. I just didn't connect with it. It made no sense to me.

[Mo'Nique]

So you never had a problem with the learning, but the disconnect was what they was teaching and what you actually saw. You like what you teaching me is not what I actually see.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know what, Shannon? It's a combination.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

It was a combination, Okay? I wasn't grasping it, and I didn't believe it. So it's a combination. And when you have a child that is full of energy and is sitting in a classroom that is closed in all day long, and you're trying to tell me all that I'm not, It just did not add up to me. It just did not make sense to me. So there's no shame to it when people say, was you in the soul class? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, we colored.

[Mo'Nique]

So when you, hey, baby, we colored.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But don't overlook what you don't think is the package supposed to be right. See, again, we come back to the messenger. Nobody thought that I would be. And I'll go to my family. Like, nobody thought, not the fat one. She's not gonna be the one. Not her. So I've been used to people doubting and counting me out. And for me as that little girl, it's like, one day, One day, one day. And that one day is right here.

[Mo'Nique]

Even your family. So how was your family? How was Your brothers and sisters? Because, I mean, look, we. Join me. I got. I got a brother and sister, and, you know, we joke with each other. And I can imagine if the situation. If one of us was in those class, oh, we gonna get them jokes off. Modique. I'm just. It is what it is.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No one paid enough attention, really. Like, no one paid enough attention because though we lived in a household together, we were very individual. So no one even paid attention to what was really going on to include my parents. And that's not a victim story. That's not, oh, woe was me. It's just what it was. So it wasn't like, oh, you dummy. The jokes were always fat. They were always fat jokes.

[Mo'Nique]

What?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, so I'm so used to that.

[Mo'Nique]

But are you the only one in your family that sneaks, baby?

[Shannon Sharpe]

The only one that sneaks snacks. I'm the only one that'll sneak them damn snacks in. And I'm the only one? Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

So how would. So what would you say your relationship then and now was with your family?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, my relationship now with my family. They're my biological family, and I wish them well. Here's the thing I watched you do. I think it was like a little clip, and they were talking about interracial dating.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you said, why would somebody stay where they're miserable?

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That applies everywhere, Shannon. It just doesn't apply to that. Especially in our community. We've been taught, take care of your family. Make sure. Well, there are some families that deserve it, and there are some families that you have to say, listen, I'm so glad we had this time together. And that's it. That's where I am with mine. I wish all of them the best, but that's what it is. So even as I sit here with you now, with all that's going on in Hollywood and all of the stuff I had to go through, I've already been through it with people that you call your family. And I have to say, you know what? That has to just wash off when I know what I'm standing in and what I'm standing on.

[Mo'Nique]

You're absolutely right, Monique. My grandmother used to always tell us, she say, son, teeth and tongue may fall out, but family never should. And she stood on that. No matter what transpired in the family, no matter what how bad someone had treated you, you should never fall out. But hearing you say that, that's different, because just because we're blood, that doesn't mean we're. We're family through blood. But Sometimes it's somebody on the outside that's not blood. That's actually closer family than the actual biological.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We've been taught to say trauma is okay. We've been taught to say, you mistreated me, you abused me, you violated me, you disrespected me, you belittled me. But I'm supposed to look at you at Thanksgiving and say, how you doing, Unc? That's what we've been taught. You swallow that pain. That's why people have such a problem with Katt Williams. People have a problem with people that says, I'm going to tell the truth. I'm going to tell the truth. And that causes a ruckus. And you would say, why are people upset with the truth? When you hear Steve Harvey say, there are repercussions when you tell the truth. Well, remember when we were children?

[Mo'Nique]

Mmm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What would your grandmother tell you?

[Mo'Nique]

Tell the truth.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Tell the truth. Because if not, there will be what? Repercussions? Well, now it's got turned around. When you tell the truth, there'll be repercussions. So what's the opposite of that? Should I tell a lie and get a reward? So that's how we're rolling right now. That's how we're dealing with one another right now. So when it comes to family and people saying, oh, Monique, how could you? Listen, I want to live the rest of this journey that I have in peace. I want to be with my family, in love with my man, he in love with me. We watch our babies grow and develop their own families. I don't need anything in the midst of that because you family. That I should accept that trauma. I should accept you not taking accountability for what you've done, what you've said, and we just washed a slate. That's why we are in the position we are now as a community, as a black community, as a community in entertainment. Everybody's been so afraid to say, look what they did to me. Look what they said. And it's like, oh, well, listen, now, we don't want to ruffle no featherless feathers, especially if the messenger doesn't fit the. What people should think the messenger is supposed to look like. And we keep repeating history. Shannon.

[Mo'Nique]

Is it a situation, Monique, where people look and say, well, you made it thus far. Well, it couldn't have been that bad, because if it has been as bad as you say it is, Monique, how would you have ever gotten out of. Be more. How would you have ever gotten into Hollywood? How would you ever have a talk Show. How would you ever be on a sitcom? So how is it that bad, Monique? And you end up like this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know when you first got in the NFL.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes, ma'am.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Your eyes were like this.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And it was, oh, I made it. I'm here. And then after you start getting in it and you started seeing things and you started feeling things, and you start. Now, your eyes start getting a little closer because now you're understanding what the business is.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So when you first walk through the door, you're walking through the door saying, come on, baby. Oh, this is all I've ever prayed for. And when my baby Cat Williams sat here and said, no one's ever gone out to LA and got a sitcom like that. I was in LA for three months. And here comes a show called the Parkers. And there we go from there. It took off from there. So I think that when people say, if it was so bad, you mature, you begin to understand what you're dealing with.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You begin to understand what you're in the midst of. And once you understand it is when you can speak on it.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But before you really know what you're looking at, how do you speak on that?

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because when you first walk in the door of Hollywood, you have everybody telling you, oh, my goodness, you're going to be amazing. Oh, my goodness, this is going to be incredible. Well, that's all you know.

[Mo'Nique]

That is all you know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

But you're so happy to be here.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

And you like.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, when you. When I listen to your story, you say, dirt poor.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Bathroom outside. Yes, it was. We had to make it work. However we can make it work.

[Mo'Nique]

Correct.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And then you get that first big check.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you think the people that gave it to you was awesome because they gave it to you. And it's more money than you've ever seen before until you find out this ain't the right money. This ain't the right amount. Wait a minute. If they got this, why am I getting this? Then you start putting the pieces together and you start saying, it's not right. And I'm going to speak about it. See, when I saw Taraji broken on those platforms, it was painful to watch. However, Taraji and I had a conversation over a decade ago.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

In my trailer when I was doing the Monique Show. And she said, you know, you gotta keep on getting it until your turn comes. And I said, taraji, most of us die before our turn comes. We gotta ask for it right now. Now, I understand that because there was a time I felt the same way.

[Mo'Nique]

Exactly.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because that's what I was told.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You just keep going. And we'll get him the next time. We'll get him the next time. We'll get him the next time. And the next time never comes. And then you see our sister, broken, sitting on those platforms. Now, when I said it, when I.

[Mo'Nique]

Said it, why didn't it get the traction when you said it, that. When she said it. Now all of a sudden, everybody is coming and I. And I don't have a problem. I'm glad.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

But if you said this a decade ago, and I remember you saying it over a decade ago, why didn't they get the traction? Why didn't they get the support? Why wasn't it propped up when Monique said it?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I think there's a few reasons why. Number one, it was the messenger. I should just be grateful I got invited to the party. You, a big fat black woman. How dare you be the one. And then on top of that, you're saying names. You're saying Oprah's name out loud. You're saying Tyler's name out loud. You're saying Lee's name out loud. You're saying Lionsgate out loud. That's not what we do. We say they, we say the people, we say the studio, we say the producers. How dare you actually say our heroes names.

[Mo'Nique]

You're very specific.

[Shannon Sharpe]

These are our heroes. How could you say their names out loud? Because they're the ones that did it. And if I don't say it out loud now, you see a woman that is swallowing that pain that is so stressed out. Then you see our sister, Taraji B. Henson, sit on that platform. And I love that baby. Cause she's a beautiful spirit. But to see her that broken. What our community was saying was we have a hard time. Some of us, we have a hard time seeing a strong black woman with her back straight and a chin up and a strong black man standing by her side. We have a hard time accepting that.

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Seeing a black woman broken. Now it's really serious because she's falling apart. Our community had a hard time with those two things. And when I would hear people say, why is her husband there? Why is he there? It's a sad day when we're questioning why a black man would stand with his black woman. So when you hear black women saying, we're the most undervalued, disrespected, underserved, mistreated, violated, exploited, we get all of that. Then you see a black man standing with his black woman saying, not on my watch. And you hear some black men saying, why? Why? Her husband gotta be there. We're in a sad state of affairs when we begin to question black love and black unity. So they didn't want to hear me. Some of them, because of what I look like, because I spoke about their heroes and because they saw that man standing right there, strong.

[Mo'Nique]

Did they question the validity the. Because we had never seen this before. Not so. Not so public, not so present.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

Did they question you and his relationship?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Me and my husband?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

When you say question what it's like. Because they did. But I want to understand what.

[Mo'Nique]

Because, okay, did they think that was your husband or what was he your manager? Because he's been everything. He's your lover, he's your manager.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He's your confidant. Name him.

[Mo'Nique]

He's your. He's the father.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Come on, name him.

[Mo'Nique]

Whatever it. He's all encompassing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

He's a toolbox with all the tools that Monique needs, all of them. And so when I heard people saying that, why is he there? Why does he have to be in every interview? Why does he have to be in the background? Why can't Monique do that? Why not?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why not? Why not? And that's when you see. And these are my sisters. But when you see Taraji, when you see Viola, when you see our sister speaking out, you never see their representation sitting right there with them. You never see them saying, listen, we gotta fight together.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

My husband is also my manager, which is my representation.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But again, we've been so beat down that some of us have a problem with this black man saying, I'm standing right here strong, and I will not flinch and I will not budge. What a sad state of affairs we are now in, where you have people that look like you and I that would question why this man is standing there. That for the life of me is disheartening. When we heard Brother Malcolm say, we've been run amok. We've been hoodwinked. We're now doing it to ourselves. We're now doing it to ourselves. So when you say Monique, it was different because we had never seen that before. You said their names. Let me say this. I'm not the first one, right? I'm not the first one. But we get washed away in history so easily that we start thinking, oh, this the first one. This is the first one. Her name is Claudette Colvin, and she's not the first one, but she was before Rosa Parks. But because Claudette Colvin did not fit the picture that they thought she should look like. She was dark skinned and she had coarse hair. And because the organization, I believe it was the naacp, did not think she would be accepted by the white people, they had to get somebody that they said the white people could accept. We keep repeating the same thing. Because what I said is no different than what anyone else is saying. None. Not at all.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

It was the messenger and it was the way that. I'm not putting my head down. I'm not shedding one tear. I'm not. I don't want to say their name because I might get in trouble. I'm going to say all of it, right? Because when you really think about that little girl coming behind you, what I don't ever want that baby to see is me broken. I don't want her to see me falling apart. And I understand it. I understand how it can happen, Shannon, when you may not have a foundation at home, when you may not have that man at home or that woman at home, whomever, that support person, saying, you're not crazy. I got you. Come on, we're going to go do this. We're going to get through this. So for us, if we start taking things for what they are and get out of our emotions, we will be so far along.

[Mo'Nique]

Do you believe punishment, punishment is not only meant for the perpetrator, but it's also to deter others from said acts.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You see it.

[Mo'Nique]

Do you believe the punishment that was bestowed upon Monique was not only to punish you, you saw it. But to deter others from saying what you said?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, Shannon, see, and I'm gonna answer that. But sometimes we act like we don't know our history. See, back in the day when they had us in chains, they would beat one real good, right?

[Mo'Nique]

But in front of the others, in.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Front of the others, and they let everybody know what you don't want is that type of ass whooping.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

So what they said was, we're gonna beat Monique really good. We're gonna sit her down. And I made it public financially. My family took a hit, Shannon. And when I tell you we took a hit, we took a hit. So when you see our sister go through that, you see her go through. And we act like our eyes didn't see what it saw. When we watched that promotion happen with the Color Purple, we wanted to act like we didn't see how Oprah Winfrey treated Taraji. In my humble opinion, when you saw her walk up, you saw that there was tension. You saw that there was something happen. And then when you see Taraji write her a love letter, it's like, listen, we gotta stand tall and stand strong on what we know. We know you were mistreated. We know it wasn't right. We know it was unfair. And then you turn around and say, oh, but Lady O handled it. I have a problem with that. I have a problem with that. Because that allows Lady O to keep on doing what she's doing. And we in a position of. I don't wanna say nothing. Cause we sorely. How Monique got whooped. Now, again, that's just my humble opinion. But I don't know what else to. I don't know how else to frame that. It's like, listen, you better fix that. Because you saw what they did to her. You saw how they treated her.

[Mo'Nique]

Is it a situation? Do you believe it's a situation that Oprah might have faced something similar that maybe wasn't as public as you, and she's looking at it? Well, if I face that went through it and came out on the other side, and look at me, it should be okay. Because sometimes we get that with parents. You know, I struggle. You say my kids should have to struggle sometimes also. Do you think that might be something going on with her? Or you just like, there's a disconnect.

[Shannon Sharpe]

There's a disconnect.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

There's a disconnect. And there's been a disconnect for years. There's a disconnect. And I think what happens is we place people on these pedestals and we say, oh, no, you can't do no wrong. We don't even want to hear it.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And when you hear Kat say, you know what they did, they don't say anything, and they act like it didn't happen. I'm gonna keep talking until you take accountability.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Until you say, uncle, I've done this. That's why it was so important. From Oprah Winfrey to Tyler Perry, Lee Daniels. Now, Lee Daniels was the only one I had to deal with. Did you see Lee Daniels apologize? He walked out on stage. Not only did he apologize on stage, that man apologized to our children. That man apologized to our children and said, I need to apologize for what I put y'all through. He's the only one I had to deal with. However, it became a problem with Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry that I wouldn't do something and work for free. Now, when you say, well, maybe Oprah feels like she came through it, why can't you?

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, there's a story with Oprah Winfrey. When she was on the show, people are talking. Richard scher was making $55,000. She was making $22,000. These are her words. It was her co host. She said, I had to leave because they wasn't paying me fairly. Now, you say black woman who did nothing wrong, and you're in the midst of this situation because. She called me. Tyler Perry called me. Lionsgate called. When you were on the phone with my husband, you said, I agree with Monique. I agree with the position she's taking.

[Mo'Nique]

But.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But when it came time to say it out loud, Oprah Winfrey went totally silent. Now, to Tyler Perry's credit, Tyler Perry called us up, right? And he said, I can see the pain in you, and I can hear it, and I want to let you know that I would never do nothing to hurt you. But the conversation kept going on, only for Tyler Perry to admit he did start a rumor that I was difficult to work with. He lied. Only for Tyler Perry to admit I was wrong. And when my movie Boo come out, I'm gonna say that right now. Here's where. When you did that interview with Kat, I could respect how you do it, because Kat said you let them people lie in your face. And your response was, kat, I don't know if they're lying or not.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because I can only take them at their word.

[Mo'Nique]

At their word.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, we sent you the audio of Tyler Perry. I don't want you to take me at my word. I want you to hear his words. And what did you hear that man saying? What did you hear that man saying?

[Mo'Nique]

He said it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What did he say?

[Mo'Nique]

Is that. Is. Monique, you know you're not supposed to be recording people.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, no, no, no. Let me back up, okay? Everything we did was legal. And here's where a black woman really gets the kick in the ass. Had I Not recorded Tyler Perry. Then it would have been my word against his. Against his. And then on top of that, it would have been. He's so powerful, we can't even pay no attention to that.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, now I have him on audio, which is legal to do where we live.

[Mo'Nique]

Right. Enjoy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. We have him on audio. And do you know what some people then said? Why would you record him? Just like you sat there and said, you know what's illegal to. But did you hear what the man said? I violated you.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I mistreated you.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Do you know, Shannon, that's cost my family tens of millions of dollars.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Over a lie and a rumor.

[Mo'Nique]

Is he gonna. Is he gonna make a. He's gonna compensate you for that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I want you to look in your camera.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I want you to talk to Tyler Perry. Because you heard what that man said. So ask him. Will he compensate my family for that?

[Mo'Nique]

Tyler, will you come on Club Sh. Shay. And let's have a conversation about the fair compensation for what transpired between you and Monique. You can sit right here. And she's sitting right here. And you and I can have a conversation.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And we'll do you one better. And give me five on that, baby. We'll do you one better. Shay, my husband. And I'll sit right next to him. See, with this whole situation and some of the people that Kat talked about, ironically, I have issues with those same people. There were people that reached out to Tyler Perry on my behalf.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I was grateful for that. Okay. There was Al Sharpton. The Reverend Al Sharpton, civil rights leader.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I sent him that audio. He listened to it. He said, baby, what that man did to you is wrong, and you're like my daughter. And we're gonna have to get him to fix that.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We didn't hear from Al Sharpton for six months. The next time we saw Al Sharpton, he was on a podium talking about, we don't need to fly commercial. Cause we can fly Tyler Perry's private jet. I said, that's why maybe I'm not hearing back from him. Okay. Then we had our beautiful sister, Stephanie Mills.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. Who is she? Don't play.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. I told her what happened. Sent her the audio. Now, I don't know if she listened to that audio or not, but however, she called Tyler Perry. She said, monique, Tyler Perry does not want to revisit this. Okay, fine.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

While we're on the phone, Tyler Perry calls her back and says, I will meet with Monique, but not with her husband. Are you ready for this?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And then Monique has to apologize publicly to say, opryn, I had nothing to do with messing up her career, but.

[Mo'Nique]

That'D be a lie.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Look in the goddamn camera.

[Mo'Nique]

I thought you. I thought that was a stage, the.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Way you look in the camera.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because you heard it.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So when you have. When you hear what this man is saying. So I said, stephanie, tell Tyler Perry. Never will I meet with him without my husband. And I owe no apology, so I'm not gonna give one that goes away. Kevin Hart. Now, you know when Cat Williams said gatekeepers.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Kevin Hart. I do his podcast.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I want y'all to re. Listen to the podcast so you can hear it for yourself. When he first comes on, he says, you're like my mother. You're like my aunt. You're like my sister. Okay. Then we do the podcast. We speak about the Tyler Perry situation. Oprah Winfrey. He said, I don't really know Oprah, but I'm gonna reach out to Tyler. I appreciate that. Kevin kept his word. He reached out to Tyler Perry. Kevin Hart called me back about maybe a week or so later. He said, mo, I talked to Tyler. He said he don't want to revisit it. He said, but I tell you what, let's move past that, Mo. Let's just move past that, and let's just do great things. So whatever.

[Mo'Nique]

That's what Kevin said.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I want you to hear me, Kevin Hart. Let's move past that, Mo. Let's do some great things together. Don't even worry about it. Whatever y'all want to do, I will partner with you. Our executive produce with you. You just let me know what you want to do. Now, let me say that before we go any further, because I want to make sure I give Kevin Hart his proper credit. When my family was up against the wall, Kevin Hart wrote us a check and said, here you go. We're forever grateful for that. When we were able to give it back, we said, brother, we appreciate you with some interest on top, because I don't ever want nobody to think me and my husband. So I want to make sure I put that out there. That brother really helped us out when we needed to be helped out. Then when he came back with, I got you, I didn't ask Kevin Hart to do anything. He said, I'll executive produce. I'll partner with you. I said, good shit, Kevin. Cause we're in a deal with Indamal and we're trying to get our talk show back. Mo. Whatever it is. I got you. Now, Kevin Hart is one of the biggest entertainers right now in the world.

[Mo'Nique]

Correct.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And was. Then we got off the phone with Kevin Hart. We called Indamal immediately and said, Kevin Hart said, whatever we want to do, he got us. He's gonna partner executive use. They was like, oh, this is incredible, because when you put Kevin Hart name on it, you already know what it is.

[Mo'Nique]

Correct.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Two weeks go by, we get a call from Indamal. Indamal says, we just got a call from Kevin Hart's manager, Dave Becky. And Dave, Becky said, kevin doesn't want anything to do with Monique. So whatever she told y'all, he doesn't want to do anything with her. Nothing, you know, he doesn't want any kind of relationship with Monique.

[Mo'Nique]

So what changed between the two weeks and when? And plus, he gave you a check, you gave the money back, then said he would partner with you. Executive produce, whatever you need, Mo. Hey, we got you. So what transpired or what do you think transpired between then that two week period?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, soon as we got off the phone and they told us what Kevin manager David Becky said, I called Kevin Hart immediately. I said, hey, baby, we just got off the phone with Indamal and they said, Dave, Becky called them up and said, you don't want anything to do with. He said, mo, that's. That's a miscommunication. I can tell you right now. I said, wait a minute. Are you okay, though, with this white man calling him up, getting in between our relationship after something you said? He said, mo, that's a miscommunication. And we gonna talk Tuesday. Don't worry about it. I'm telling you right now, it's a miscommunication. That was two years ago. If you talk to him, I talk to him. I've never talked back to Kevin Hart again. So that's what we're faced with when you allow somebody to come in between a relationship with a woman that you said, I'm like your mother. You said, I'm like these things. I didn't ask you for that. So everything that that baby was saying sitting here, everything he was saying was on the up and up. Because when you hear people say, get the anger out your heart. Aw, man. No one's saying he's lying. No one ever said I was lying. It's so easy to discount and devalue because of what we look like. However, when it comes to Tyler Perry, I will not allow you to discount or devalue because that is your voice on that audio. Remember on Good Times when Penny's mother was whooping up on her and then. And she had recorded it. That's you on tape. So how does it go from you saying you're gonna give me an apology to now I owe you an apology.

[Mo'Nique]

But what do you owe an apology for?

[Shannon Sharpe]

What could I possibly owe you an apology for? When you've admitted, See, when Lee Daniels says to me, because Cookie from the show Empire, I was offered that role, now, Taraji tore it up, baby, it. Listen here. However I was offered that, then Felita called me back and say, baby girl, they said, you too difficult to work with. But you hear on the audio that a man told David Talbert I was difficult to work with. Do you see how that cost my family?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And with no accountability because, oh, it's the great Tyler Perry. No, you've got to be accountable for that, Oprah Winfrey. You've got to be accountable for the things you've done with my family. You've got to be accountable for that.

[Mo'Nique]

Is there any relationship between you and Tyler and you and Oprah currently?

[Shannon Sharpe]

No. No.

[Mo'Nique]

But I thought there was an apology. I read that, but I thought I read somewhere that Oprah had issued you an apology and Tyler had issued an apology. That's not correct.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, no.

[Mo'Nique]

The only person that's giving you an apology.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You saw it, is Lee Daniels. That's the only person. So we are in a place where we're too afraid to call them for what it is. We're too afraid to say, if it look like a duck and it quacked like a duck, what is it, Shannon? It's a duck.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

So again, you see the struggle of the black woman as I'm sitting here talking to you and you say, mobile. Why would you record him? But you heard the man violate me. The first thing wasn't, I can't believe that cat did that to you. It's. Why would you do it? And we understand it, right? Because we've been conditioned that way.

[Mo'Nique]

Because when you. You had to get somehow. Because when you're telling people these are lies, nobody is believing Monique. So now, even though you have him record his voice and that's him, and he's saying he made it up, now is no longer, oh, man, I can't believe he lied. Almost. Why'd you record it? So now they put the onus back on you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Where's the win? How do we win? How does a black woman win? When you say, here he is right here, and I look to the community and say, how long do we allow us to keep being exploited, used up, taken advantage of? And because we think somebody can give us an opportunity, we just say, shh. I'm not gonna say nothing. If we keep operating like that, Shannon, you gonna have a whole lot of us sitting right here in this same seat, almost telling the same story.

[Mo'Nique]

Why do you think Tyler is afraid to meet with you and your husband? Why does it need to be you one on one when he meet with other representatives and their client? What is it about you that he feels it needs to be just you and he? Does he think your husband is some kind of negative influence on you? He thinks the husband is saying things that Monique probably wouldn't say if I just had an opportunity to talk to her one on one. What do you think that is?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me say this. People better be glad my husband is by my side, because there are people in Hollywood that know wherever you act up is where I show up. People know in Hollywood, baby Shannon. And I don't say it with a badge of honor. It's just what it is. Well, I've had to say, who you think you talking to? And we sitting there with the president of the studio or the My patience level is not gonna allow I've been molested. I've been violated. So the moment I see you trying to do it, we gonna have to address it. My husband is nothing but a gentleman. And you know why people have a problem with my husband? Because he right to it. There's no we gonna dance around the bush. He's right to it. And people like Tyler Perry, people like Oprah Winfrey, they look at my husband and say, how dare you be so direct, right? How dare you not put your eyes down when you're talking to me. How dare you do that? My husband is also my manager. Why would he want to exclude my management? It's like, Tyler, you should want my husband to be there. You may want him to be sitting right there so that way we can have a conversation that everyone can be heard. But I appreciate you, Shannon, because most people are too afraid that's heard the tape. They're too afraid to say, no. I heard it, and this is what he said. I appreciate T.S. madison because T.S. madison was the first one to say no. I heard what he said. So when folks were trying to jump on her, she not down for the black woman. Listen, baby, y'all don't even understand the fights that sister be having when ain't nobody watching for the black woman, right? So I appreciate you looking in that camera, right?

[Mo'Nique]

Well, I mean, look, sometimes there are some. Some black people, some, not all. Some that my grandfather used to say, mo, is that if you're not careful, you'll become the very thing you despise the most in a person. Now, what do we despise most about Trump supporters, ex President Trump, is that no matter what he says, no matter what he does, they give him an out. There's some people in our community, no matter what powerful black people say or do in our community, we'll give them an out.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And we can't.

[Mo'Nique]

And we become the very thing we despise the most. What we despise most about President Trump's ex President Trump supporters is that no matter what he does or says, it's okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

We can't do that. You can't? We can't. If somebody is wrong, like you said, Mo, if somebody's wrong, we have to be man or woman enough to say they're wrong, regardless of what comes along with that.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They don't know. They don't understand what them saying I'm sorry, will mean for them. See, when I read the.

[Mo'Nique]

Because that's not for you, and I'm sorry, it's not for the person that you offended. It's for you. Because currently you're in hostage your feelings. Because you have to live with that, Knowing you have to live with that, what you've done.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So when you see a woman, say, me turning 70, I'm so happy because I've never hurt anyone. Stop it. Stop it. Cause there's a black woman that has been calling your name for over a decade that you seem to want to make go away. And I know I'm not the only one.

[Mo'Nique]

Would you. What would you say if Oprah called Mo today? Would you sit down and have a conversation with her?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me tell you what I'll do if Oprah called me today. Shannon Sharp. We will sit down and have a conversation with Oprah Winfrey. We will sit down and have a conversation with Tyler Perry. We will sit down and have a conversation with the presidents of Lionsgate. We will sit down and have a conversation with anyone that is, I must say, brave enough to sit down and have a conversation. But what happens is, within seconds, within seconds, if Tyler Perry was to sit right here, you would say, man, I heard you. What you trying to tell me about this sister? Within seconds, Oprah Winfrey would know that people would say, hold up. See, when I speak about Oprah Winfrey, and let me be clear, I love that sister Cause she's our sister. She just gotta come back across the street. We got the light on. When I speak about Oprah Winfrey, I speak about that woman because she's spoken about me. And when you begin to speak about me privately, I'm going to speak about you publicly. You've been unfair, you've been unjust. And you watched a black woman be thrown under the bus, and you said nothing. And here's what's interesting as well. My husband was saying to me after I won the Oscar award, right? And she had the people come, you know, to talk to the Oscar winners. And I go on the stage and I talk to the Oscar winners. Well, when we go to a commercial, the people in the audience and I say this humbly, as my husband was telling me, he said, mama, they wasn't screaming Oprah. They were screaming Monique, right? So much so, I had to say, y'all gonna shut that shit up. Now we get ready to go back on the ad. We having fun, right? He said, but I watched Oprah. He said that. I watched her almost turn in her seat, like they screaming her name. Now some people will say, oh, Monique, you're reaching. Well, let me tell you what then happens. The movie the Butler.

[Mo'Nique]

Mmm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That movie was offered to me. Lee Daniels came out and said, I did offer Monique the butler. But as he said to me, he said, mo, at the time, I didn't have no power and I didn't have no money. So when Oprah says she wanted it. So who played the lead role in the Butler? Oprah Winfrey. Lee Daines was getting ready to do a biopic on Richard Pryor, and he offered me the grandmother, who then calls Lee Daniels and says, I want to be the grandmother. So as you're looking at me, it's the same way I'm looking at that sister. And I'm saying, why don't we sit down and have a conversation? Cause the way things could look, it may not be that way, but just the way things look, Oprah. Just the way you would have my family on your show, Oprah.

[Mo'Nique]

One might say, mo. Well, I mean, if the role. If they're looking for a black.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Big, go ahead and say it. Shannon's so careful with his words. He want to say, fat black woman. If the role. Looking for a fat black woman, Mo. But he's like, I want to keep my podcast moving.

[Mo'Nique]

Y'all ain't fit to cancel this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why we love you, Uncle Shay Shay. Because we want you to say a fat black woman. Now, me and Oprah fit the damn description, Shay. Fat and black. Don't we fit in?

[Mo'Nique]

You do, but I'll be right back in the building. I'll be your neighbor up there where you live at.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Listen here, listen here, listen here. So. So are you lying?

[Mo'Nique]

No.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now, I'm not gonna have your big ass sitting here in the hall of fame and you scared to say shit.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I wanna excuse myself for any of the babies that might be watching this. Cause I wasn't gonna say no spicy things. But Shay, Shay, get me wrong. Now, come on, Shay.

[Mo'Nique]

One might say, or people might say, well, Mo, I mean, the role calls for a heavyset black woman. You, Oprah, y'all fit the roles.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

How do we know that she wasn't offered the role at long? And people think that she's better or more qualified than you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It don't work like that, Shannon. You can't offer me once you say, I want you.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's what it is.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. But I don't have the money to fund a production.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't have the connections to go to the studio and say, listen, I want to do this movie, she does. So when Lee says, hey, baby, she got the money, Go get it. But someone would just say, how is that working out? Like that. How is that happening? Like that? How is it that things that was offered to Monique, you seem to be playing now. I told Oprah about that. See, everything we're saying to you right.

[Mo'Nique]

Now, he was having a conversation with her here.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I don't play the behind the back. I don't play the. I'mma share it with Shannon. There's one thing I will share with you that I've not shared with anybody.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

But I don't play the behind the back. And all of that. I say, listen, let me try to get to you first. Now, if you avoid me, okay. But I tried to be respectful. I tried to call you first. When she had my family on her show, I tried to call you first. I tried to talk to you privately. But then you became the great, the great, mighty Oprah Winfrey, and you were too busy to talk. Well, now I'm going to talk about it. This woman has overstepped with me so in so many ways that somebody would say, if we wasn't Monique and Oprah Winfrey in the entertainment business, and we was Monique and Oprah Winfrey that worked at Costco, I see you in the break room. I see you at your cash register. Because she's overstepped.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow. So I don't know Monique, this might be the term. Cross another Rubicon. We might be going too far if you feel that way. Because clearly, if you feel this way. Now I get why you feel this way. I don't know. Like I said, I don't know this. I'm taking you at your word now. Not, not, not. Not the Tyler. Because I've listened to the audio.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about Oprah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

I'm just taking you at your word.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

If you feel this way. Is it possible she feels the exact same way about you?

[Shannon Sharpe]

How could she? How could she? What have I taken from Oprah? When did I have Oprah's mother and father on my show? When did I have anybody come and speak about Oprah Winfrey? On the Monique Show. That's never happened. So how could she feel that way?

[Mo'Nique]

Would you have done that?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Had her family on?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me tell you how we operate. When we had the Monique show, there was a comedian on there, and he was trying to joke ti's wife, Tiny. My husband walked out in the middle of his set. He said, cut. He said, brother, we don't do that here. We uplift our folks. We don't play that. So, no, I would not have done that when Oprah Winfrey had my family. And I'll tell y'all, and I'm looking around, baby, because there are people here.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. And I don't want to be rude to the people at Shay Shay's club. You got other people in the club, right? When Oprah Winfrey called me up and she said, I got a call from your brother, and this is after I won the Oscar award, right? And your brother wants to come on the show, and he wants to apologize to you for molesting you, and he wants to tell other people how to look out for a predator.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I said, oprah, I said, I don't want anything to do with that cat. I said, but. And then she said, well, if you want me to scratch the show, I will scratch it. I said, sis, don't scratch it, because he could be a different person. And I don't want to get in the way if that cat is a different person. I just don't want no parts of it.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. When I hung up that phone, Shannon, I was like, I appreciate that, sister. Like, she didn't have to call me.

[Mo'Nique]

She didn't.

[Shannon Sharpe]

She didn't have to call me and say, I'm gonna have your brother.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I start seeing commercials with my mother. And my father and my other brother, who used to be my manager, who knew the fear that I had with the brother that was up on stage. Right. We never talked about my mother being there.

[Mo'Nique]

She never told you that?

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know how you feel about your grandparents?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes, absolutely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, the honor and how you speak about them.

[Mo'Nique]

Mm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Imagine you then seeing your granddaddy and your grandmama on a show, and they're talking about somebody that violated you, and that woman didn't tell you that they were gonna be there. How would you feel?

[Mo'Nique]

I would feel like. You feel like you felt betrayed.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That is exactly how I felt and how I feel. And it's not. Oh, I'm in a. No, I understand it. But you portrayed me, sister, and I'm not the only one.

[Mo'Nique]

Because at the time when she called you, she said it was just your brother.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Just my brother. And when my mother was on that show, do you know what I had to deal with, Shannon?

[Mo'Nique]

What's that?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I would be in the store, and I would have elderly women coming up to me, and they would say, your mama ain't shit.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now, they wasn't lying, Shannon. Okay? They wasn't lying. Baby, sometimes you gotta let the truth be the goddamn truth. Sometimes you got to just go with it. But still, it's my mother. It's your mom, and I'm in here, and I. Because when she want, I'm having to. And I got that often with them telling me what my mother wasn't. Because you did not tell me. Had Oprah Winfrey said, I'm gonna have your mama, I'd have said, shut that shit down. I don't need nobody seeing my mama be greedy. I don't need the world seeing. Shut it down. Now, there's a white woman named Barbara Walters. They called her first, and she said, monique, I told your family, I can't do that to you. I wouldn't do that to you. You just won that award. Like, why would I do that?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah, this. I mean, you're here. Why would I bring something that I know that you don't want to talk about? You've lived it. Why do I need to replay it again?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Ask her. Your camera right there.

[Mo'Nique]

I was trying to get her.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I know, baby. Ask her. See, this is where it get juicy. Right? Because you're saying the right things, but you're asking me questions that I can't answer.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I can't answer why Oprah Winfrey did what Oprah Winfrey did. Only Oprah Winfrey can answer for her actions.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So Again, Stop being scared. No, I. I knew that would get him all Mary. I knew that would pop him back in, baby. I knew that would get Oprah. Shay. Shay.

[Mo'Nique]

But even this show, I have a producer, and I give him a lot of leeway, but I've had people reach out and say, well, a family member said something, and I want to come on your show and refute it. That ain't what we do here.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. It's like, it ain't gonna happen. It's almost. You don't cross that barrier.

[Mo'Nique]

We don't do the family thing.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You don't do the family thing, and I'm gonna bring this up. I wasn't gonna do it, but damn it, this is. This seat.

[Mo'Nique]

You might want to have another symbol.

[Shannon Sharpe]

This seat make you go, truth. Tell it. Oh, tell the damn truth. Tell. God damn it, tell the truth. Because family is sacred.

[Mo'Nique]

It's supposed to be.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And we don't cross the line with family. And people begin to get comfortable, to jump on the Monique bandwagon of Monique doing things wrong, and she doing this and she doing that. And there's a brother named D.L. hughley.

[Mo'Nique]

Yep.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And until he take accountability, I won't let it go.

[Mo'Nique]

What?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because what would you get ready to say?

[Mo'Nique]

I was gonna say, what did DL do?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me tell you, baby. That voice went up, didn't it? DL is friend. He, like, that's my friend.

[Mo'Nique]

No, I've met DL on several occasions. I don't know DL like that. Do I know DL say, like, I know an earthquake? No. Do I know. Since I've interviewed Cat, had several conversations with him. Do I know DL on that level? No.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. See, when we say family is sacred. Family is sacred. And we know that you don't cross the line when it comes to family.

[Mo'Nique]

Correct?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. I do. DL's radio show.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

DL Hughley is not there. His team is there. And Shannon, we having a great time. I mean, baby, we having a great time. We going forth, back and forth. When we get to the end of the show, they say, monique, you want to play a game? Well, I want to play. I said, sure, Chaka. Let's play a game. And it's a game called. Would you rather. Oh, okay.

[Mo'Nique]

Now, Monique, you already. You should have said, I'm too old for this game.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Wait a minute. We having fun, baby, right? We having a good time, Shannon. Okay? We. I mean, it's the sister there, and it's two other guys. We're having a great time. It's a beautiful Black unity cookout.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

We're having a good time.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. Would you say your wife was your family? Is that considered family?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So your husband is considered family?

[Mo'Nique]

Absolutely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, so here we go. They said, monique, we wanna play a game of. Would you rather. Let's go. Would you rather your husband sleep with Lee Daniels with a condom or Corrine Stephens without one?

[Mo'Nique]

Really, Monique?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now, as y'all are watching right now, who haven't heard this story, and y'all going, they doing the same thing in the studio. They going, okay, that is exactly what happened. Now, I said to the team, how does that uplift our community? I said, sister, and her name is Jasmine. How could you ask another sister that? Well, we just planned. I said, tell me the joke in that, because I don't know what you're insinuating. Then you're involving people that have nothing to do with nothing. Like, what are y'all doing? So I said, I'm gonna call my brother, D.L. i'm going to call my brother. I call D.L. hughley on the phone. I say, hey, baby. Yeah.

[Mo'Nique]

Huh?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's how he responds. Yeah.

[Mo'Nique]

Did he know it was you?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, because they called him to let him know Monique's gonna be calling like this. It was getting crazy, right? I'm like, just let me get on the phone with my brother. Right? Hey, D.L. yeah. I said, listen, I just got off the phone with your team, and they wanted to play this game. Would you rather. And it was like, stupid. Like, ask me about my husband and Lee Daniels and Corrine Stephens and his exact words. Well, that's how we do it. I said, DL how does that uplift our community? And again, I don't know what y'all trying to insinuate, but, brother, what you doing? Like I said, that's just how we do it. So it is what it is. Now, it got so ugly that my attorney had to send a cease and desist, so it never aired. So we have, like, when Cat Williams talk and people truth tellers talk, we have receipts to everything we're saying. That's how that whole thing got started. Okay? It's family. My husband is my family.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now, you babies that are really good with this Internet. Through the years, I've watched DL Speak ill of me. Through the years, I never knew me. I never knew D.L. hughley had a problem with me. But when cassette, they all a group, he forgot to put DL Hughley in the group. Through the years, I was bitter. I was dangerous with what I was doing, saying that it was inequality. My husband didn't know what he was doing. This went on through the years. I was unloved, all of these things. And I said to myself, imma see you.

[Mo'Nique]

Mmm, mmm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'ma see you. I didn't go on nobody's show. I didn't say nothing to nobody. But I knew the time would come that I would see him. We were scheduled to do a show in Los Angeles. I was the headliner of that show. His name was on it. Then his name came off. I didn't question it, but I knew. I'ma see him, right?

[Mo'Nique]

Eventually.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, now we have a show in Detroit. Contractually, I was the headliner. DL Hughley posted a memo. Now, when you signed your deal for the Ravens, did you sign a contract or a memorandum?

[Mo'Nique]

I signed a contract.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You see how you say that like anybody that knows good business? You signed. The memo was saying, this is what I would like, right? But the contractor saying, this is what it is. Okay, yes. He put out a memo to our community. And that touched me a little different, because I was saying, why would you lie to our babies? Because now they're thinking if they send somebody a memo, that's what they're supposed to get. Okay, I was contractually signed to go as the headliner, right?

[Mo'Nique]

You mean you go last.

[Shannon Sharpe]

D.L. hughley didn't come into the building until 9:30. Now, contractually, I said, I have to be on stage by 9:30, because if the show starts at 8, I refuse to keep an audience waiting. That is disrespectful to the audience. When I went out on that stage, Shannon, I made sure everything I said, he heard me. Cause now you're here, and I'm gonna say it to you. And I said some things on that stage that I said. He was cowardly. And some folks said, how could you say that? How could you do that? And then I posted some things to say. This is what I meant. See, you came after my husband. And when you had a chance to fix it, when you had a chance to say, mo, my bad, you know, we don't even get down like that. You told me it is what it is. And until he's brave enough and courageous enough to say, this is what really happened. Y'all. Y'all have never known me to be no shit starter. Folks ain't never known me to go over and kick a sandwich out of somebody's hand that's hungry. But what people do know is if you kick me, damn if I ain't gonna kick you back, because that's fair play, right? So there was one left out the pack. And when you have people that continually don't take accountability, that's why you see us in the state of affairs we're in.

[Chase for Business]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Hi everyone, it's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb from the Today Show. We love this time of year. There's so much to celebrate. That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today all season long. Join us for special performances with the brightest stars, plus festive recipes to whip up the perfect holiday feast and great deals on the hottest toys and gifts for everyone on your list. So join us every morning on NBC to make today your home for the holidays.

[Mo'Nique]

I'm a firm believer moving that everybody don't play the same. And someone once told me, what is joke to you is death to someone else.

[Shannon Sharpe]

What is joke? That's why we don't play with people's families. When we had the Monique show, the radio show. Listen, you can't come on here and speak ill of no One, because we don't play like that. Because we know how this business works, right? So when you allow that to happen, what do you think is gonna come back your way? What do you think? And D.L. hughley, please. No, brother, we still love you. Just take accountability for it, and we move forward.

[Mo'Nique]

I remember reading something about the. About the situation in Detroit. I didn't know the depth of the magnitude of it. I remember reading something about a memo about. I guess it's an addendum that was added on. But the contract is the contract, the.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Contract is the contract. And what happens is, because of the messenger, it was easy to pile on. It was easy to pile on. And then when you have some of our black folk that go sit in front of a white man and speak ill of their people, I'm like, y'all, what are we doing? What are we doing? What are we doing? What are we coming to that we going to sit in front of this white man? I can't even say his name. I refuse. Everybody know who he is. We sit in front of him, and we just let this man say any and everything about us, and then we go right in with him. Now, see, that, to me, is dangerous. And y'all babies, that's good with this little computer, don't take my word. You can just go through the years of this cat just running his mouth, and it's like, stop doing that, because what are we saying to the babies coming behind us?

[Mo'Nique]

We're gonna continue this, but I wanna get into where you're from, the dmv.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Mo'Nique]

Do you realize, like, Chappelle Martin, Tommy Davis, earthquake yourself. What's in the soil in the DMV that got you guys? I mean, you've done television. Stand up. All these guys have done television and stand up and are great at it. When you look at, like, Chappelle. Chappelle walked away. Like, walked away from. And said, nah, I want to do my own thing, because I'm not going to let you guys hold me hostage. Yes, but Martin still does television. Tommy Davidson doesn't do as much television. Quake is not in television. But he has, you know, have this. All his gigs going on. When you look at the success that a Chappelle Martin earthquake is having, and you says, hold on, ain't none of them guys win no Oscar, and none of them guys did what I did on the movie set, and they're having the commercial sense that they're having. That should be Mo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If I was a white woman, do you know what my name would be? Wealthy Melissa McCarthy.

[Mo'Nique]

Oh, my goodness.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If I was a white woman, my name would be Melissa McCarthy. Same track record, five year sitcom and syndication. Same track record. The opportunities are not the same. So when you have. And as you read all of those things off, you say, wait a minute, Mo. None of them have this, none of them have that. We get judged by a different stick. We get judged by a different stick. And then when I had people judging me, I'm like, you judging me by your yardstick. You've not done what I've done. And I say that humbly. You've not had the accomplishments that I had. When I hear Brother D.L. hubley say, with that Netflix special, I just accepted anything, whatever they gave me. These are not my words. They're his.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, that's how you do business. I'm not mad at you accepting anything.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why are you mad at me saying I won't accept anything?

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's the difference. It's like people were judging me. I was hearing people, Shannon, okay. I didn't know we had so many tender people in our group.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I didn't know we had so many tender love. I didn't know we had so many tender people. And I wouldn't want to be on the front line with these tender people where it's like, oh, I can't believe you said that. I can't. But it's what I said. The truth is what I said. The truth. No, I didn't put no sugar on it. It was shit.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I didn't try to make it taste good. We gotta stop running away from what is real, and we run into fantasy. And that's how come we keep staying where we sit.

[Mo'Nique]

Mo, before you became Monique that everybody has seen over the last two, three decades, what were some of the jobs that you had that you like? Man, this ain't for me. I knew this is just a holdover. This is just a bridge.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Every job I had, baby, it was special.

[Mo'Nique]

Was it?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Every job I had, baby, you the best at. Let me tell you something. I worked at a drive through in Popeye. I worked in the drive through in Popeyes. And that was my microphone. Every time somebody came to that window, I was on stage. Welcome to Popeyes. My name is Monique. What would you like today? And they would say, hey, Monique, I'm Shannon. Hey, Shannon, how you doing, baby? What's your order? And you give me your order. And then I say, would you like a hot apple pie with that, Shannon? You say, you know what, Monique? I sure would Come on around here, baby.

[Mo'Nique]

Let's get an oversolder.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Listen here, Popeyes. Where my damn money? Cause I was a seller, baby. If you wanted a two piece, I gave you 4H. You wasn't going to lose no weight coming through my damn window. Sh. That's why I ain't lost no damn weight. What I sold, I ate. If you got two pieces, I ate two of them. Welcome to Popeyes. All right, baby, Come on, now.

[Mo'Nique]

So that was. That was your microphone. That was. That was the beginning of Mo'Nique because you was owning. Did you know that's what you were doing?

[Shannon Sharpe]

What I knew I was doing was walking in my dream. The microphone said it's possible. When I stood in my bathroom mirror and I wrapped the towel around me and it didn't go all the way, I wasn't devastated, okay? I don't know if they just didn't have enough money to buy me a whole damn towel, but I would still stand there and that was my gown, right? And I would pick up that brush and I would say, I would like to thank. So I. I've always seen it.

[Mo'Nique]

Did you always know that you were. You. Was Oscar always in the back of your mind? Did you always.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oscar was never in my mind.

[Mo'Nique]

You just wanted to be in tv. You wanted to be in show business. What aspect did you want to do?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I wanted to be famous. I loved what it looked like with people being famous. I didn't know to say, I want to be wealthy with the fame. I didn't know to be specific, to ask for it, but I wanted to be famous.

[Mo'Nique]

Who did you know that looked like Monique? That was famous.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oprah Winfrey. So do you see how far this relationship goes? That's who I knew that looked like me. See, I didn't. When people always ask me about the Oscar, right? But no one ever asked me about the Image Award. No one ever said to me, what did it feel like when they called your name for the NAACP Image Award? And they were people that looked like me because we put so much weight on that award that we. It's such an honor. And it's an honor for any award, right? Not just that one, but as a little girl, I never watched the Oscars because nobody looked like me was winning. So I was like, this is not for me. Oh, but when I watched the Image Award, baby, those people look like me, right? The BET Awards, those people look like me. So I was honored the first time they called my name for an Image Award. When I tell you, Shannon, that Night, baby. When they called this little fat girl name from Baltimore. And the winner gold the war goes to Monique. Well, listen here. I got so good with him calling my name, and this is what had to humble me. You will get humbled, baby, when you just think they get ready to call your name. I had wanted, like, three years in a row. This the fourth year.

[Mo'Nique]

Oh, adoring.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Here, you call my name again. Jake Jay. Let me situate myself and my chest.

[Mo'Nique]

Do I look good?

[Shannon Sharpe]

So here come the category. Hey, baby. The best actress in the sitcom. They named me Tisha Campbell. And I cannot remember the other sisters, right? I know they get ready to say, and the award goes to Monique. So I got to. Cause I'm a big girl. You got to scoot up so you can be ready to push up, right? So I scoots up and get my gown together. And the winner is Tisha Campbell. I said, all right, girl. Go on and get your hat. That humbled my and sat right back down. But it was never the Oscar for me, baby. It was never the Oscar for me.

[Mo'Nique]

So how did standup happen?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Standup happened on a dare. My brother came home one day and said he went down to the comedy club to do open mic night, and he did so bad. He said they was booing me, but I was six beers in, so I thought the booze was applause. So my boy had to say, man, nah, bro, this is stinking. Right? So we cleaning out. And he says. I said, if I was there, I would have said. And that was 30 minutes of what I would have said. Then he said, I dare you to go down next Wednesday and do open mic night. It was a club called Burke's in Baltimore. I went down that next Wednesday, Shannon and I got a standing ovation. And from that moment to this moment, were you hooked? I was. I was. It is nothing like. And I'm sure you can appreciate and understand when you walk out on that football field and you walk and you smell it and you walking into it and you that little boy, and you says, I'm here. I'm still there. That little girl in me is still saying, I'm here, but I'm a grown woman, right? And I'm saying, now that I'm here, you got to pay for it fairly. If not, I'm good. I just have to walk away.

[Mo'Nique]

How much. How different is that Monique? Not just in age, but how different is that Monique to the one that's sitting right here on this couch?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, she grew up.

[Mo'Nique]

That one was naive. Were you Ever naive.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, yes, yes. When you first come to Hollywood, Shannon and I got a show called the Parkers after I was in Hollywood less than 90 days.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

90 days. And you have agents, and you have managers, and you have attorneys. Right. And they're telling you all the good things. And anybody. Everybody always said to me, you want to get the syndication?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You want to get the syndication. Once you get the syndication, you work because you want to work. Right, Right.

[Mo'Nique]

So syndication is what, five years, 100 episodes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Syndication is 100 episodes. Okay, right. So that's all I knew. I didn't know to ask to be an executive producer of my own image.

[Mo'Nique]

Oh.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And nobody told me. I didn't know to ask for that. I didn't know to ask for after the third year of being on a successful sitcom that you could say, I now a bonus. I didn't know to even negotiate that. And no one told me to negotiate that.

[Mo'Nique]

They're definitely not going to tell you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

All they kept saying is, when you get the syndication, when you get the syndication, when you get the syndication. Well, three years in, the Parkers was in syndication. Now, no one told me that. You learn it once you open your eyes. Because now I'm going around the country doing promos. The Parkers is coming on at 4:00 in your city. The. The Parkers will be on at 2:30 in Sacramento. Y'all make sure y'all watch the Parkers. It's coming on. I'm not knowing I'm promoting the show in syndication. No one told me that. All we're doing is saying if we get to five years, we got to five years, 110 episodes. Me and a beautiful young lady named Countess Vaughn, who was my baby to this day. We had the Laverne and Shirley Law. Yeah, right. Supposed to be equal.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Once we got to the five years, our attorney, my attorney and the agents that, oh, the Parkers made money. Y'all gonna get paid from the Parkers. It's made money. Okay. Years go by. By 2004, the Parkers, we went off the air in 2004. Right. In five years. By 2009, the Parkers had made $800 million.

[Mo'Nique]

You like?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, yeah, yeah. Stay with me.

[Mo'Nique]

Money, money.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Hey, come on.

[Mo'Nique]

Hey.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, yeah. All right. Okay. Okay. Cause we waiting to get this money. Sending check is coming. We get a call, we gotta do an audit, you know, and everything. Okay. And that was in 2009, that it made 800 million. We're now in 20, 20, 24. And they're trying to convince Countess Vaughan and I that that show made no money.

[Mo'Nique]

No, no. Mm.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Mm. They're trying to convince us that a show that cost 65. Roughly $65 million to make. In our last year of shooting the Parkers, Countess Vaughn and I made $55,000 apiece.

[Mo'Nique]

That's it. How much were you making an episode?

[Shannon Sharpe]

$55,000 an episode.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay, so how many episodes did you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Shoot that last five years? That last year we shot 22 episodes.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We made $55,000 apiece at the end of a top rated. Sit.

[Mo'Nique]

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Time out. Time out. Are you saying you made 55,000 for 22 episodes, or are you saying you made 55,000 per episode? Cause I wanna make sure I'm hearing you correctly.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let me make sure you hear me correctly. We did 22 episodes.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We were paid $55,000 per episode.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

For 22 shows.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. Okay.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's on a hit show, Right? That is unheard of.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because we're two black women. I don't know. To fight for it.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Count us as young. Count us as a baby in this business. So I don't know to say that.

[Mo'Nique]

We should be making 1000-001502-00000 in an episode.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So now today, y'all want to convince us that that show made no money. That show has made over $2 billion. And I'm guesstimating, and you want to convince us that our percentage. We made no money. We can't allow that to happen.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's why we're fighting. That's why we're saying, no, no, guys, we can't sit on our hands like that.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know how many of us, when you watch Good Times, when you watch the Jeffersons, when you watch Sanford and Son, whose family is benefiting from our images? Cause the damn sure ain't ours.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You see why I fight the way I fight?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because if it does not make sense, you have to explain it, and I'll go back to Tyler Perry. You know why Tyler Perry don't want to talk to my husband? Cause he can't talk around him. My husband don't care nothing about that man's money. We don't care nothing about your title. We care about your character, brother. We care about your intentions.

[Mo'Nique]

And what you gonna pay? What you. What you gonna pay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

How you gonna make it right? How you gonna make it right? Cause if I am your Aunt Mary, and I really belong to you, as I really belong to you right now, Shannon, I am your sister. And you heard something that was wrong?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes. How. How can Tyler Perry make it right? Mo Give you a job? Give you your sit. Give you a sitcom? Say, Mo. Okay, you know what? Mo Sitcom. You're going to be the executive producer. I'm going to be a co. Executive producer. You going to do the sitcom?

[Shannon Sharpe]

If somebody cost you, Shannon Sharp, millions of dollars.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Do you want to be compensated for what they cost you for a lie and a rumor?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So at that time, I was making roughly between two and three million dollars a year.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I sat in that for over 12. For over a decade. Like 12 years.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You do the math. Over a lie that he admitted that he told. Not something I'm making up. Mmm. You admitted that, brother. How do you make that right?

[Mo'Nique]

You guys, I'm sure you got lawyers. Have you had a conversation?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, what happens is when you take somebody at their word. Time, time, time. We don't need to go to no lawyers, Tyler. You know what you did? Just make it right. And if he doesn't make it right, what will our community do? What will our community say? Because today is me, tomorrow is you. Then what? Yeah, we've got to hold him accountable. What did. What. What? What? What Cat say? We've got to. You got to tell Tyler Perry. Come on now. You got to do it, Shannon. You got to tell him.

[Mo'Nique]

Got to tell him. Obviously, when you do. When you do stand up, you go to a lot of different cities, a lot of different clubs.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

It's a lot of different promoters. Has everybody always been on the up and up with Monique, or did you try. Sometimes people try to take advantage. You're female, you're black, you're heavy.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You not gonna say that like Mr. From Color Purple. You're black, you're ugly. You not gonna do that shit.

[Mo'Nique]

But, you know, people try to take. People would try to take advantage of anyone, but seemingly like us, their team were willing to take more advantage of us.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I've had to tell the promoter, call the police. Cause either they gonna come get you.

[Mo'Nique]

Or me, they trying to hold up.

[Shannon Sharpe]

On the money, call the police. Because. And this was. This was like $75. Can you imagine $75? Like, you know where we come from?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If somebody gets you for $25, that's a problem.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah, for sure.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Imagine 25 million. Yeah, we've seen people lose their life for $25.

[Mo'Nique]

For sure.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Imagine somebody getting you for millions. How you supposed to feel? Would you let it go?

[Mo'Nique]

Nah, hell no.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right? So when people Say, mo. Just let it go.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah, but. But it's easy for people to say let it go when they haven't lost anything.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Come on, baby.

[Mo'Nique]

It's 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.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They didn't do it to you. They didn't do it to you. It was done. And I will say this right now on your show. I still love y'all. We still love y'all.

[Mo'Nique]

You love Mo. They make it right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

My husband. Okay, say that again.

[Mo'Nique]

Because you love y'all more. Y'all make it right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, indeed. Okay, I fix him a pound cake. 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 happened on the Color Purple?

[Mo'Nique]

Why? Oh, you talking about the rebate. You talking about what?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm talking about the seventh one. The one that just came out. Right, right. Isn't that the seventh edition?

[Mo'Nique]

It's like the musical with Fantasia and Taraji.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right, right, right, right, right, right. That one with all our beautiful sisters.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know why they're able to treat us like they treat us how? Are you handpicked and you audition?

[Mo'Nique]

No. If you handpicked, you don't audition.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I want you to say that again, Shannon, because people don't understand. Understand how deep this goes. When I watch my sister say, it was an honor to be handpicked.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Then why ever would you audition?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And the moment. In my opinion, the moment she auditioned, they knew we got him. We can treat them any kind of way we want to treat them. We can do them any kind of way.

[Mo'Nique]

But why would you want to?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why?

[Mo'Nique]

Just because you can, that doesn't mean you should.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 or these conversations, people are too afraid to even address it. Cause they don't wanna be caught up. Like, oh, I don't I don't know. When you say, wait a minute, no, that's the truth.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I heard. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 gonna label me again. She's bitter. She's not. Yeah, yeah.

[Mo'Nique]

You got 30, 40 million of my dollars. Yeah. Bill, the average person gonna be bitter.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. I just wanted to look on your camera. Okay. And here's the thing. Because I got a king at home. I'm not bitter. I'm not bitter.

[Mo'Nique]

You just want what's right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We just determined.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Not life is too good to be bitter, but we're determined for you to take accountability.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's all.

[Mo'Nique]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

The Apollo theater and the sister that stay out front that had the Jheri curl. If she liked you, everybody liked you, right? If she did not like you, nobody liked you. And when I saw that woman stand to her feet, baby, Good. I was good. There were so many moments.

[Mo'Nique]

Were you nervous to go on Apollo? Because, you know, everybody know about to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Follow you nervous every time. You still get nervous to go every time, baby. And not the nervous when you scared. It's just that, like, oh, I get to do it again. Like, when you go out to the field, it's like, oh, it's that. I still get that. Yeah.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow. That's. I mean, to hear you speak and to see, like, how passionate you are. Very, very passionate person about everything.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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?

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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.

[Mo'Nique]

You. You said, 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 car?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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? What is the representation that we're giving to our black men that's walking beside us? What is the reputation that we're given? 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.

[Mo'Nique]

True.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 that. We owe ourselves that.

[Mo'Nique]

How hard is it for you to love some in the community when you know they don't love you back?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's a good one, Shannon. Okay. That's a good one. Cause sometimes I be in the bathroom 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.

[Mo'Nique]

But why?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Why do I love my people?

[Mo'Nique]

No, no, I'm saying a lot of times you, for me, Mo Mo, is that I don't take someone's word about to. Cause you can only judge a person through personal experience. Yes, yes, you don't know our audio guy. But, but to say, oh, I don't like him, and then for you say, well, I don't like him either, cuz Shannon didn't like him. 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.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 them? 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 that. Cause I'm like, I don't like they ass, I don't like what they did. I don't like they 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, right? So what you're seeing right now, Shannon, is Mrs. Sidney Hicks, that my husband has sat me down and had conversations with me and really taught me how to be a lady. Cause 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, right? 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?

[Mo'Nique]

You said that when you were at your lowest, he lifted you to your highest.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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, 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. And there's a place. And we get so caught up in that word. What you mean your place? 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.

[Mo'Nique]

And he doesn't have to constantly remind you of it. He never.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He's never. When we first got together, I sat 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I moved to the side of the table, and he sat 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, in 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.

[Mo'Nique]

But she don't know your.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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'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.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Or it's a hard way to go. So once again, well, she doesn't even.

[Mo'Nique]

Have a husband, let alone like yours.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, damn it, now you said it. I sipped on that. Shannon. That was a sip that required a sip.

[Mo'Nique]

You. Moesha. How did. How did that come about?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Moesha?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah. You had an audition for Moesha, right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, sir.

[Mo'Nique]

Hold on.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No, sir.

[Mo'Nique]

You didn't get on Moesha.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I did. I say this not to be, but I never auditioned.

[Mo'Nique]

What?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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, you know, making me think I'm doing something. But to audition. When I first came to Hollywood, I told this guy named. I believe his name is Mark Henry. And I told A.J. johnson, and I told a sister named Kim Kimberly Brooks. I said, I'm not auditioning. And they was like, okay. Like your fat ass. You not auditioning. Okay, 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. 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?

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Because once I do that, I devalue me. If you can't look at my work and say, say, that's what we want, then, no, thank you. 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 just gonna send an email and wanna know what's my availability? I'm offer only. I am offer only. So again, we gotta be careful what we say yes to what Sydney Portier say. It's not how many times you say yes, 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're 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. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

But you turn a couple of appearances on Moesha into the Parkers.

[Shannon Sharpe]

This is how the Parkers happen. Normally you shoot a pilot, correct? Right.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And the pilot, they decide whether or not they're gonna do the show. From the pilot, right?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. Countess Vaughan 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 Suzy Unga. They're trying to sell a talk show.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 can act or not, but I said, damn it, of course I can act. They boy count as running to that. That was at 1:00. 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 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.

[Mo'Nique]

So now all of a sudden, you got your own sitcom shout, come on.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now.

[Mo'Nique]

You go home and you like from B. More, M.D. from what I went through to this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

Are you looking around like, damn it, I made. I. I knew this. I knew this day was going to happen.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, yes, yes. And you know how you know something as a child? Like, did you know you were gonna play professional?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I knew it, Shannon. I knew it. Like I 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 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. 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 went to Parker, because there's no one on one, there's no Hollywood 101, there's no introduction. They just say, go and you 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 went to Parkers, you gotta park outside the gate. That brother 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. 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 ourself 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. Cuz you know what it's like not to have gas money. So I'll just, you know, I. I just go ahead and do that a little bit. My soul won't let me do that.

[Mo'Nique]

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.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Come on.

[Mo'Nique]

That was my driving force. That was all I thought about. Mo, given your family situation and what transpired, why did Mo want to be famous so bad?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah, yeah. You know, I wasn't always popping more.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now that you brought it up, let's talk about it. Shay Shay.

[Mo'Nique]

It was the elder bar.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Talk about it. Your hair was curly, your skin was bland.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah, man. Okay, yeah, now that you brought it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Up, I wasn't always what that is. So now to be that. Now to be that.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now you got to be careful, cuz. You remember the time when she told you, no, I don't want to go out on a date with old black Shannon?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, you let me talk to her right now. Let me talk to your ass that wouldn't go out with black Shannon. Mm. Now you wish you would've won out with black Shannon that stuttered. Okay. You wish you would've won out with black stuttering Shannon Sharp's ass. Now look at him. He got the Shay Shay show. I bet her ass up. I been there. I 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 didn't have no whole lot. But I didn't look at it as we were in poverty.

[Mo'Nique]

Right? Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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. 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 there was a sacrifice in that. Right? Because when you're trying to go get it, you missing this right here.

[Mo'Nique]

Oh, you miss a lot.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And their babies are good. And had 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 going to keep going back to that shit. Shannon Sharp. Till he takes accountability for it.

[Mo'Nique]

You say, said your first son.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

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?

[Shannon Sharpe]

We're still very much separated.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And. And, and it's a. It's a. It's a. It's one of those things where you have to pray to the universe and say, let time do the healing. And that's it.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's like when somebody's saying, shannon, I want to apologize to. Now it is up to you whether.

[Mo'Nique]

Or not to accept.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Whether or not to accept. 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. Uh, uh, 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 saying. Because I've had to do that, right. 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 this been my best friend since 10th grade, since we were 14 years old. He came to the other. Other weddings. Okay, what it was like, my brother, this man, he was like my brother.

[Mo'Nique]

He been out hustling you for a minute, Mo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You know, he wasn't. That's why it's so beautiful, because we really. We were like, we. We had a place together. He would see my boyfriend, I see his girlfriend, you know, that he didn't.

[Mo'Nique]

Feel some type of way.

[Shannon Sharpe]

This was my brother. This was literally my brother. And then if it wasn't my boyfriend, it might be another little fellow. But, you know, he was like my brother. We were brother and sister.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So the way it happened.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It was so pure.

[Mo'Nique]

Tell me. That's what I want to know. Now you. He came to. You say, came to weddings. You saw him have girlfriends. I don't know if he was married or not.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Before you, he's never been married.

[Mo'Nique]

How. How did I gotta know this? Cause Hallmark need to do a story.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 spot 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, like, our little farmers market in Baltimore. And I had a comedy club called MO 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 gonna 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. 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 boyfriend. And let me be clear, although he was my boyfriend, I was never his girlfriend, right? But in my mind, you know, we'll take it somewhere, right? So I'm in my feelings. Cause I like this little teddy bear, right? But the teddy bear, it wasn't reciprocated, okay. All right. Not the way I wanted it to be, right? So I called 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 the BET Awards, right? And I had a big party at my house.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And the next day, I was supposed to go to Essence for the film for the Essence Festival. 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. I had every race, every nationality, every. 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 he's very reserved, you know, Very reserved cat. So I grabbed his hand and said, come on, let's go dancing. And we go out on the dance. We'll have a great time. After that, I'm like, all right, I gotta start packing to 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, 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 lipped. It was like, here.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah. Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Mo'Nique]

Oh. See it? Sleep with it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You see? Sleep with it. It was right there, right now. I tried to turn the whole mouth, but it came right down, right? Cause I felt something different. And I was like. And then after it happened, we both almost had a feeling of like, what we did something wrong. Like this. Like, that's my. So we didn't address it right. I came back from Essence Festival.

[Mo'Nique]

What'd you want to talk about?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I went to his place.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He fixed dinner.

[Mo'Nique]

Oh, okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He fixed dinner and read this amazing poem that he wrote. That was almost 19 years ago.

[Mo'Nique]

Uh. Oh.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 like my brother stole from me. Like, I just needed somebody that I could just trust. And I didn't want to keep on having rainbow.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cause 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. 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 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 one. I got a great one.

[Mo'Nique]

You got a great one.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah.

[Mo'Nique]

You got got a lover, a best friend, a manager, a husband, a confidant.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Mo'Nique]

A protector.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah, you're saying it.

[Chase for Business]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Hi everyone. It's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb from the Today Show. We love this time of year. There's so much to celebrate.

[Chase for Business]

That's right. Nobody does the holidays quite like today all season long.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Join us for special performances with the brightest stars, plus festive recipes to whip up the perfect holiday feast and great deals on the hottest toys and gifts for everyone on your list. So join us every morning on NBC to make TODAY your home for the holidays. And it seems like people have a hard time getting it, but that's exactly who Sidney Hicks is. He's all of those things when the Queens of Comedy.

[Mo'Nique]

When was that a Because I Was some more Adele Givens, Miss Laura. Tell me about the Queens of Comedy. We hear about the kings of comedy all the time, and it was great.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

It.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Was nonstop history making because we were selling out in ways that were unheard of. Right?

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I can remember our first show because I was not initially the headliner of the Queens of Comedy. Some More was.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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, and we were in Atlanta, and it was one of those shows where the basket for me was this. Like, I don't care what I said. It was just right. Symore 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

We just want a great show.

[Mo'Nique]

Correct.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And that's what that was. Ms. 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 gonna eat these buffalo wings. Flip that iron over and wrap that Reynolds. Wrap up and cover it with that towel, baby. Them buffalo wings was 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. 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 C and D promoters. You're in the big leagues now. Walter Latham wants you to be a part of the Queens of Comedy. Okay. Nope.

[Mo'Nique]

No problem.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Thank you.

[Mo'Nique]

No problem. Cause he's the executive producer of the Kings of Comedy. Correct?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. It's gonna be a blast. Yet the first check I got, let me sip before I tell you.

[Mo'Nique]

Hell, I might meditate. Me a sip, too.

[Shannon Sharpe]

My banker called me up and said, mo'nique, this check is no good. I said, excuse me.

[Mo'Nique]

The money jump.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Funny sip again. God damn it.

[Mo'Nique]

I might need a little something strong. Hold on.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 my agent and I said, let me tell you something about C and D promoters. My money always good. Now I need you to get Walter Lathan on the phone. Walter Lathan. 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 of the Queens and Comedy Tour.

[Mo'Nique]

He make it right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

He made it right. You saw me on the tour, didn't you?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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?

[Mo'Nique]

50,025 cent.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So one night, they tried to give me 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.

[Mo'Nique]

I feel out of the weather.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, I performed that night because they had to go get my money.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Then they started selling shows off. Off. So what that means is now you got different promoters coming in. We're women. We are women. Okay. Some 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. They might scratch you, but they weren't going to ball their fists up and do no guffing.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

One night, we're on the Kings and queens, right? And oh, how Bernie Mac is missed. Oh, how he's missed because he was a real one.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

All the kings of comedy had limos separate. Steve had one, Bernie had one, Cedric had one. DL 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. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

This is what I want to get to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I want you to get to it.

[Mo'Nique]

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 justice. Mo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Thank you, baby.

[Mo'Nique]

Nobody. You played it. And I remember walking out the movie and I called my sister, I said, she gonna win the Academy Award for that role. I said, it's almost like she was born and to play that role now. Now tell correct me if I'm wrong.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay. You shoot a movie?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

The movie wrap. You might have to come back and do some voiceover. Some. Some here. Some touch up work here or 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 conflict seems to come in. Because you like. Okay, 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?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I was contractually obligated to promote the movie Precious under Lee Daniels Productions.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I promoted Precious under Lee Daniels Productions. I did Oprah, I did magazines, I did TV shows, I did all of promotions. I was contractually obligated to do. Okay, that was it.

[Mo'Nique]

That was it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm done with it.

[Mo'Nique]

Done.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, Done. Now Precious is going to can right at the time. I have the Monique show. I am on the Spread the Love tour. I have toddler babies and I'm also a wife. Okay. Monique, the Monique show is like down for maybe a couple Days, a week or so.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I got some days off on the tour. I'm gonna relax with my family. Because once they sold the movie.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You didn't sell me.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 on in that house and let them have their way with you.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I tell my husband, please let them know I respectfully decline. I appreciate it, but I respectfully decline. I'm gonna spend some time home. Lionsgate calls back, we really would like for Monique to come to Cannes, promote this movie. Please let them know I respectfully decline. I'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.

[Mo'Nique]

Correct.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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. Okay. Tyler Perry calls me in his room. Now, when I go into Tyler Perry's room, his staff is in there. Now, you ready to holler? Laughing yes. Okay. I take my security in there with me. Cause I always wanna have somebody with me.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. Tyler Perry does this. And the people sc. They all left out the room. I said, look at this shit right here. You saw me. And they all scattered.

[Mo'Nique]

That wasn't the light. That's for the people. You know, light clap, Lights on.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Lights off. Cause they got their asses up outta here. Okay, okay, okay. So at the time, my security look at me. I said, you don't work for Tyler Perry. You could.

[Mo'Nique]

Touche.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 dollars. If you win it, your next movie is 6 to 8 million dollars. I said, Tyler Perry, who you talking to? I'm a black woman. When they gonna pay that kind of money? No, I'm telling you, that's what it is. 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 are 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 decided to pay.

[Mo'Nique]

I didn't need the money.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 service. We hugged, Shannon. When we were done talking, we hugged. Do you hear me?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We hugged like brother and sister. Like, it's cool. He understand, right? Okay.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oprah Winfrey calls my husband. I want y'all to take your time. Cause I'm getting ready to go.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah, you. That's your camera right there.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yeah. Cause the people at home, they sitting there like, monique, what happened, bitch? I'm great. Tate. 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 sink. So my husband said, well, what is different between you and Monique? You've got to draw the line. And you're saying, 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.

[Mo'Nique]

But, okay, she's saying that privately, but did she voice that publicly?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did you hear her saying, I did. Did you hear her say it? Jt did you hear her say it?

[Mo'Nique]

No.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Zack. Did you hear her say it? Zack. Regina, did you hear her? Tommy? No one seemed to hear that. Publicly, she said that privately. Now, when she said that, see, everything we're saying to you, it can be proven. She had him on speakerphone. And that when she was talking to him in that room was a man named Reggie. Well, 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 Unoffended. 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, 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 her 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.

[Mo'Nique]

But you don't need somebody to talk good to your face. You need somebody to talk good behind your back. So if you telling me, if you telling me what a great person I am in my face, but you telling me I'm dog poop behind my back, what good is that? Mo?

[Shannon Sharpe]

What does that make those kind of people? Shannon? That's what does it make those kind of people?

[Mo'Nique]

That's cowardly.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That is cowardly. See, here's. What's this? When we have our juggernauts, Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Steve Harvey, 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 to be like that. So we have to call those people to the Met 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, than we can imagine. Magic. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

They ain't coming on now.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Mo invite them.

[Mo'Nique]

I have.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They not gonna do it.

[Mo'Nique]

Well, look, I've already done Steve. I have a relationship with Steve.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He do them again. Do him again. And I'm gonna say this.

[Mo'Nique]

I'm trying to get Oprah and Tyler, though, baby.

[Shannon Sharpe]

We got him. Y'all. Come on, stop playing.

[Mo'Nique]

They ain't coming on more thanks to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You, you know how. And I don't wanna put you on the spot, but I'm gonna say it because I appreciate you as a black man and what you're doing.

[Mo'Nique]

Thank you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

If you are my friend and someone says to me, monique, Shannon, shop wrong and you my friend.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm gonna call my friend, you gonna come to me and I'm gonna say, hey, is what they saying true? And if you get to him and Han, I'm gonna 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 now? 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 friend Jamaica Carter. And our friends. T.S. madison was a mutual friend. So Jamaica called me and said, would you mind doing TS Madison's show? I go do TS Madison's show. When I tell TS Madison, when the camera cuts, I said, listen, 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?

[Mo'Nique]

Lee.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Lee Daniels. See, that's a friend. That's a true friend. That's 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 ask Lee, 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. Cause 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 gonna have that with other people when they take accountability for what they've done.

[Mo'Nique]

How much did you make for the role, Mary Impression?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I was paid $50,000.

[Mo'Nique]

That's it?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's it. And I never complained because that's what I signed up for. It was an independent film. Right?

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So when my friend called me and I'm going to quote him, he said, 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, I know. He said, it's sick. After my husband and I read that script, he said, mom, if you play this with no judgment, when he 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. 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?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And Phil and Michael Thomas?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Remember when they was in the car. Cause 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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. And people have a problem with. With that. And we gotta 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 and she tell you the same story.

[Mo'Nique]

So considering you won the Oscar, normally when you win the Oscar, not saying you're gonna win another or get Oscar worthy scripts, but there's normally a run where you and, you know, two, three fingers. Now, Monique, that 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.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Let's tie it all back in.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. You have a man that says I lied on you.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I put a rumor out there on you.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 difficult to work with, you're going to be a problem. Where would they get that from?

[Mo'Nique]

Well, somebody that's as powerful as is Tyler.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, so now I'm scratched from that.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Right. Now, when it comes to movies, I'm a difficult person to work with. Ain't nobody ever had a problem with me.

[Mo'Nique]

They never said. Did they say. Did anybody say that? Prior depression.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes. No, not prior depression.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I've never had a problem with nobody. I long as I was saying yes, you good. The moment you start challenging, we got a problem.

[Mo'Nique]

What about the Parker? What about Moesha? Had anybody said anything about Mo'Nique's character prior to pre. Her not wanting to do international press, what she wasn't contractually obligated to do?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Never proud of that. Nobody said 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 of his mouth was queen. You our queen. And into queen and the queen and the queen. And we just want you to do a cameo. And here's what we gonna pay you. My husband said, well, that does not cover Monique doing promotions. That covers none of that, bro. This is just for the cameo. Okay? Right?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

The director was David Talbert. My husband and David Talbert were college roommates. They were across the hall from one another.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

In the script. I was that quick. Cause it's a cameo, right? Okay.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So 99% of the things you heard Aunt May say, it was Monique, it was me ad Libby.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. Cause it's a cameo, right? When we had a meeting with Willpacker, Willpacker says, if you do this for me, I'll give you a three picture deal. And they sit. Come now. We have all of this in writing. It's all in. Right.

[Mo'Nique]

What were you. What were you. What were you. What were you needing to do a press. You gonna need to do press for it? You gonna need to promote it or just. Just do the cameo.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Just do the cameo. That is what was agreed upon. We were gonna do a cameo for the amount of money that he said they were gonna 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 scene and this scene.

[Mo'Nique]

But there ain't no cameo, camera or the.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, okay. David Talbot is our f. Is our friend. We don't want to make this bad for David Tbert. So we said, okay, 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, gonna just walk in and give a direction. So I will not take direction from you. If you have something you wanna 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 Talbert, and the first AD because they were being disrespectful to this black man. And I was not gonna allow that to happen. I had a conversation with the. 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 gonna do is stand by and watch you give a direction after the director give us 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. Okay, so Wolpacker and I are now at odds, because I'm seeing how this brother's. 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. Woolpacker's friend, or I'm not sure what title to give her. Okay, she comes into the trailer. 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. Mm. She comes and looks at my assistant and says, what's your shoes doing off.

[Mo'Nique]

You and your trailer? Why do you care?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 of I'm playing. It was what you. I said, as a matter of fact, I need you to go get Will. Cause I'm not even gonna have this conversation with you. I'm gonna 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 in charge. Everything stops with me. I said, well, I want to let you notice, Will, you're going to hear that you're the head in charge from me. As many times as I can tell people. That's what you said. I said, and furthermore, you need to check yourself, assistant, because this is my space. We weren't in your trailer with our shoes off. We're in my space without shoes off.

[Mo'Nique]

But why would he come. Why would he come to you with that type of energy? What. What led. 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.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's a good one. Because what I said to him was, who do we need to talk talk to? This young lady can't be up in here like that. And that's when he became the head in charge. And then I said, who are you the head in charge of? We have Danny Glover on this set. We have a legend and an icon. Are you the head in charge of him? Are you the head in charge of Kimberly Elise? Are you the head in charge of Gabrielle Union? Are you the head in charge of JB Smooth? Who are you the head in charge of? So he tried to laugh it and joke it. I said, 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?

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Our trailers blew up.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They blew up. Now, whenever this airs, I'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 trailers, and we said, hey, we smell gas. They said, mo, we let him know. Talking about the head nigger in charge. We let him know. He just said, okay and walked away. I said, he what? He just said, okay and walked away. The trailers blew up. Did Will pack of reach out to anybody? I can't say. He didn't reach out to me and say, hey, is everything okay? Did you lose anything in the in The. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Said, are you good? Did you lose anything? I said the wigs blew up in the explosion.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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. This is. This is not right.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

So if that means y'all won't 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 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, right? With almost Christmas, I owed you nothing. However, I did it because we had a relationship with a brother named David Talbert, and we didn't want to send him through. No drama, no nothing. So we went along with it. Other than that, Shannon Sharp, 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.

[Mo'Nique]

I read that. You said. You read. This is a chapter of forgiveness. That's your thing. A chapter of.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I didn't say that. That's what the God. Hollywood Reporter said. Okay? Don't put words in my mouth. That's not what I said. That's what his ass said. Okay?

[Mo'Nique]

What did you say?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. Okay. That's what he said.

[Mo'Nique]

Listen, what would it take Mo. Mo. What would it take for Mo Neat to forgive Oprah and Tyler Perry?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Be accountable. Be accountable. And for some reason, if you want.

[Mo'Nique]

Tyler Perry to say what he said on that tape, you want him to.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Say that publicly, and he cost my.

[Mo'Nique]

Family millions, and you want to be compensated.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes. I want to be very clear about that. If someone cost you millions, do you want that back?

[Mo'Nique]

Absolutely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So I'm no different than you, right? Especially when I've done nothing wrong. 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 mother. This is the part people don't know.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I shared with that woman what me and my mother were going through. Now my mother's no longer here. Mm. Right.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I shared with Oprah Winfrey what we were going through and how I felt. And I was, you know, you 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 gonna have my goddamn parents. I was getting ready to say, God damn, baby. It was right there. But you don't tell me you can ready to have my 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.

[Mo'Nique]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You're gonna stop that, right? I am very proud of what you've accomplished in your life. We respect everybody, right? But we over respect no one. And Oprah Winfrey walks around like I can't be check. I. I won't admit to that. I'm lying.

[Mo'Nique]

I'm a firm believer, Mo. No one is beyond reproof.

[Shannon Sharpe]

No one at all. So when you keep saying, what is it? I'm going to keep answering you the same exact way. So if you talk to your camera, I'm going to talk to my camera and see how they split the screen. And we're going to invite them at the same time. You talk to them first.

[Mo'Nique]

Tyler, Oprah, I would greatly appreciate it if you two guys would come on Club Shay Shay, we sit down, we have a conversation. This is not an interview. This is not harsh hitting. I want you to tell your truth, Ms. 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.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 Shayshe 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 you drink that you like. And, you know, he told me some other things with the drink that you like. Come on, Uncle Shay Shay, let's have a conversation. Ain't nothing. Well, you took yours all the way down, and I cannot. Okay, okay. I cannot. I cannot do that.

[Mo'Nique]

You already did a Good job.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Thank you, sugar. Now, when we get ready to wrap up, I'm gonna give you an exclusive on something that don't nobody know. Okay? Don't nobody know this. And it's going to be something.

[Mo'Nique]

It's going to be something.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's going to be something I want to get.

[Mo'Nique]

Look, I. 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.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

When you going through that, how is that impacting you during that time? Because I think you're 7 to 13.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You better do your damn homework.

[Mo'Nique]

Shannon Shaw and the impact that it's had on you and your relationship with men.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh, Shannon. Trying to be a journalist.

[Mo'Nique]

Shannon.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I throw this. Look at you.

[Mo'Nique]

Damn it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You see you trying to come up Barbara Walters. 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, cuz I could be wrong.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But someone said, shannon Sharp, don't mess with black women.

[Mo'Nique]

And before you go any further, can.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I say this, please?

[Mo'Nique]

My grandmother told me something when I was a little boy. She said, boy, never chase a lie.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Come on, baby. Come on, come on.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And you never said that, right? I've never said that. Okay? So that's why I said, I got black kids. That's what I said. I said, them baby's black black.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

They not confusing. Yes. We ain't trying to see if she Latin or Dominican. They black black. They mama got black black. Everybody that shared a message, that's what it was. Black black, right? Black black. Okay? So 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 running this. You know how we do this. I've always had an aggressive personality.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I have always jealous with if I think you 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. Cause 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, right? So when it came to men. Baby, listen, I had my. My share, okay? I'm not saying I was. No. But I was close. Hey, come on now, Santa. Get back to me now. Get back to me and call me later. Call me later. Call me later, baby, come. 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. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

But see here, the thing now, Mo, all of a sudden, you being this fat black woman. It ain't a problem. Because remember. I remember you said it was.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Well, let me say this. It wasn't never a problem with me being a fat black woman. Cause real black men, they like them in all shapes and sizes, all complex. 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 talking 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. 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. You baby. That grew me up and that night. That grew my ass up that night so fast. Because I wanted. I wanted to hear what my psych. 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 onto that crutch. Stop holding onto that victim. Cause 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. Cause 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 Alonzo, she's incredible. Y'all want to know about red bottom shoes? Let me tell you somebody that's gonna 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 cause you fat. I 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 right. I signed up, right, And I was at the top of the class. Till I realized I was going to bed empty. I was going to bed with nothing. 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?

[Mo'Nique]

You weren't with them.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I wasn't.

[Mo'Nique]

No.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay. Talk to me, Shannon. Let that liquor use you. I wasn't with them.

[Mo'Nique]

That was just a body for the lonely.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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? Cause I was in tears. I'm like. I'm. You know, I was a whore. I was crying. I was. Cause. Cause 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 man. 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 my head was, friendly pussy. So for you whores out there, you friendly pussy, right? That's what he told me. He made it right.

[Mo'Nique]

So did you ever have a good relationship with your father?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes, when I was a little girl.

[Mo'Nique]

Little.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 Mr. Johnny House. Now I'm a little girl, right? He go over Mr. Johnny house and him and Mr. Johnny go in the back. And I could smell the reefer, but I didn't know it was reefer, right, right. And they smoking, 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Since what did he say?

[Shannon Sharpe]

And now I'm about 13. He would just, he was, he was a bullshitter, right? But he was a good sounding bullshitter, right? Like. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

You have a very close relationship with.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Your grandma 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 a about $2. But I didn't have the $2 and I needed a co signer, right? So I asked my father, please co sign for me to get this fourth esteem. And I'mma 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? Like 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 copy 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 deck, a decade of being blackballed or whatever, you're difficult and all that. It allowed me to keep standing. It allowed me not to. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

You speak a lot during this interview. You spoke a lot about curses and the trauma. How do we break that generational trauma, that curse that is in our community.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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.

[Mo'Nique]

Address it.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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, truth, how much further would we be? That's it. That's. That's how I think we make it better.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

We deal in the absolute truth.

[Mo'Nique]

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 about it. It'll just go away.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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, Taraji Henson.

[Mo'Nique]

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.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Come on, 26.

[Mo'Nique]

26 times that. And you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not trying to do that. We're not gonna do that. We're gonna do fair. That's what we do. I mean, we. You speak about diversity and you talk about doing the right thing. Okay? This is an opportunity instead of being lip service. Okay? Put pen to paper. Let's make it right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 went 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. But when you hear Amy Schumer, and this was not something I found out, they publicly said it. It was prophecy. 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, right, 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 now? You know what happens with that?

[Mo'Nique]

What happens?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 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, don't nobody know what a settlement is. I mean, well, we don't even really. It was really, really quick. We just gonna 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 wanna let her know, you can fight, baby.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

You just don't have to say, okay? You can.

[Mo'Nique]

Would you be willing to do another Netflix. Netflix special?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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?

[Mo'Nique]

You know, I. I Wanted to ask people that. That I hear our community call. You know, the community called me Aunt. And they call you Auntie?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes.

[Mo'Nique]

Do you wear that with a badge of courage like I do?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 gonna tell you the shit that you wanna hear. I'm the auntie that's gonna 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. But when they gave it to me, Shannon, that was the universe saying, you now sit in that seat.

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You are now responsible.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

That's why I must speak out and I must speak loudly. And I must say it to the top of my lungs. Cause God damn it, Fannie Lou Hamer didn't do it for me. God damn if Eartha Kid didn't do it for me. God damn if Mom's Mabel didn't do it for me. The ones that came before us, and there's a woman still alive named Sylvia Traymore Morrison. That woman got paid in a Coca Cola. That woman got paid in a Coca Cola at her next gig. And $5. 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Wow. Dating. What. What advice is somebody. If. If a group of women were in here and it's like, come on, they talk to us how this dating thing. Because this is. It's mo Is different now than when you. When you and I.

[Shannon Sharpe]

It's different, baby. I'm grateful. I'm not 56 and trying.

[Mo'Nique]

But you tried to say what you tried to say.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I'm looking right at you. I ain't backing down. You better take your old ass and get some somebody to love you.

[Mo'Nique]

Damn.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now I'm looking right at y'all. Let me tell y'all what Shannon needs. Let me tell you what my baby need. He need him all fat down. Who can bake good cakes, make some smothered turkey wings. Who gonna rub his feet at the night time. 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 know this is your auntie talking to you. Take your ass and get you a old out there that can love you old. You're trying to hang out with these young and you can't do it, Sandy. You just can't do it. When they want you to go for the fourth round, you looking at her like, listen, I need. 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 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 going to get your energy back, back up. I'm talking right to you. So he thought I was going to be scared. Yes, I'm talking. And I know old gal, she'll be good to you. Her name is Elidora. Now, when you know somebody named Ella Dora. Old School. Now, Ms. Elidora told me to tell you, she said, I think he like red velvet.

[Mo'Nique]

Oh, I do, I do.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I say, Ms. Ellidora, if he do like that, 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. Clap. Come on now. These young girls are about white. You okay?

[Mo'Nique]

Yeah. Okay, I gotta guess. I gotta come on home.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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. You stopping now. He might throw a white one in there every now and again. And it's okay. It's okay. Cause sometimes we ain't into everything. We don't do everything. So sometime Uncle Shay, Shay need a spice of life. He need to go across the street. But he always going to come back. That's why we saying, you open. Tyler, come on home. Come on home. Come on home. Come on home.

[Mo'Nique]

Sierra says a lot of women talk about Sierra's prayer, but when a God sends a good man, they don't want them. Is that true?

[Shannon Sharpe]

I cannot speak for them. I can only speak for me. Because when the universe sent mine to me, baby, you was ready. You was ready when he sent that man to me. Me. Even this morning, I thank the universe for that man right there. Before I came on air with you, I was talking to him.

[Mo'Nique]

I know.

[Shannon Sharpe]

He said, mama, you heard me talking. 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, right? We've been trained to go against you. We've watched our mamas, our grandmamas, our aunties speak ill of a black, black man. So now when a black man comes any good, you waiting for the bad. Because Grandmama told you black men. One mama told you black one. Your auntie said, black man ain't. So. All you have in your mind is black man ain't. So when you get that beautiful black man, he's now got to say to you, erase everything they taught you, right? Cause I'm here.

[Mo'Nique]

Or you. Then you treat him like that. And then he goes. And then you talk about.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Now you're mad. Cause 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay, this is the last one, unless.

[Shannon Sharpe]

You want to send me back on your jet.

[Mo'Nique]

I wish I had one. I wish I had one. But I'm going to get you out of here on this one.

[Shannon Sharpe]

See what y'all did.

[Mo'Nique]

You heard what Shaq said. Shaq said. They asked Shaq, should a man open up to a woman? Shaq said, no. He says, because if you do, they're going to use it against you. He said, because if I break, if I cry about something, they going to say, the first time they get mad, they going to say, see you crying because you daddy said what he said.

[Shannon Sharpe]

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?

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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 night time in your pillow talk? Who else do you share your life with? Who are you sharing with 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. 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 say, when I be stressed out and I be going through it, after the show, I will come home and Gayle could calm me down and put me to sleep. What you say?

[Mo'Nique]

What statement?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, then you said it I said, I'm going.

[Mo'Nique]

Nope, nope. Oh, I'm getting Oprah on here. I'm gonna get Oprah on the show.

[Shannon Sharpe]

But those are her words. So 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.

[Mo'Nique]

Know after your first two marriages, you gonna get married again?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Yes. Cause my first two marriages were just marriages of. My first marriage was you just couldn't have the milk without buying the calf.

[Mo'Nique]

Right?

[Shannon Sharpe]

That was the first marriage. And we were boxers.

[Mo'Nique]

Okay?

[Shannon Sharpe]

Every. We were Friday night fights. Okay? Okay. We were frightened. It wasn't domestic violence. We was Friday night fights. Okay. I took an L sometime, but sometime I didn't.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Okay, okay, okay, okay. The second one was I couldn't afford to pay my rent.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

And I didn't want to have a boyfriend.

[Mo'Nique]

Right.

[Shannon Sharpe]

So that's why I say this is the first time I've really been married.

[Mo'Nique]

Right. Tell me the story that you wanted to share that nobody else knows that you was going to share with us.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Y'all ready for this?

[Mo'Nique]

I'm ready for this.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I want you to move in. That man that was sitting right here on this couch, his name is Cat Williams.

[Mo'Nique]

Yes.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Cat Williams and I have a relationship. We're fraternal twins. That's all. That's it. That is my twin. My spiritual, fraternal, non bio biological brother. We are twins, baby. Yes, we are. That was it. And that was all.

[Mo'Nique]

Thank you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Don't nobody know that but you, Cat Williams. Don't even know the. That's what make it so beautiful.

[Mo'Nique]

So, Cat, I'm gonna call him. I'm gonna call him and say, hey, I met your sister for the very first time.

[Shannon Sharpe]

I need you to tell her.

[Mo'Nique]

Do you want to promote anything? You got anything you want to promote?

[Shannon Sharpe]

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.

[Mo'Nique]

Thank you for watching. Mo'nique, ladies and gentlemen. Mo, thank you so much. I really appreciate you.

[Shannon Sharpe]

All my life Been grinding all my, my life Sacrifice, hustle, paid the price Want a slice, got to roll a dice that's why all my life I've been grinding all my life all my life Been grinding all my life Sacrifice, hustle, paid the price, Want a slice, got the roll of dice that's why all my life I've been grinding all my life Once upon a time, Amazon.

[Chase for Business]

Music met audio books and listeners everywhere rejoiced.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Oh yeah, because now they could listen.

[Chase for Business]

To one audiobook title a month from an enormous library of popular audiobook titles, including Romantasy, Autobiographies, True Crime, and more. Suddenly, listeners didn't mind sitting in traffic.

[Mo'Nique]

Or even missing their flight.

[Chase for Business]

Amazon Music Unlimited now includes Audible Download the Amazon Music app now to start listening Terms apply.

[Shannon Sharpe]

Did you know that parents rank financial literacy as the number one most difficult life skill to teach? Meet Greenlight, the debit card and money app for families. With Greenlight, you can send money to kids instantly, set up chores, automate allowance and keep an eye on your kids spending.

[ESPN]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Earn, save and spend wisely. And parents can rest easy knowing their kids are learning about money. With guardrails in place, sign up for.

[ESPN]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Not only are they packed with the.

[ESPN]

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[Shannon Sharpe]

Simpler than making soup or tea or whatever.

[ESPN]

So be prepared and grab some new Theraflu Soft Chews fast. Any wear relief by your side, use as directed.