Mo’Nique Calls Whoopi Goldberg “The Help” and Talks About Amy Schumer’s Netflix Deal Being Substantially Bigger Than Any Black Female Comedian’s Deal

My loves gather around because Mo’Nique is shaking the table today! In an interview with Vulture, she details what happened with Whoopi Goldberg at The View and tells us what happened with her Netflix deal.

What happened exactly when you were negotiating with Netflix?
They never negotiated. They weren’t willing to negotiate. They sent over a $500,000 offer. I believe it was that we had to use $200,000 for production. Then it was [that] I couldn’t use the material for two years. Like, it was absolutely ridiculous. So, when my husband and our attorney says, “Well, let’s go back in so we can renegotiate this,” it was “Take it or leave it.” That’s what it is.

We forget the role skin color plays and also the role of being skinny or heavyset. Do you think things would have transpired differently with Netflix had you been a lighter-skinned woman that was smaller?
No, because her name is Wanda Sykes. Wanda Sykes is a light-skin woman who is smaller, and they offered her half of what they offered me.

So, do you believe the struggle is similar for any black female comic trying to do a special with Netflix?
You know how they quoted it and printed out Amy Schumer’s money? [Editor’s note: Schumer’s pay was reported in a Varietypiece about how she renegotiated her Netflix deal.] Show Wanda’s and Tiffany [Haddish]’s. You showed hers, so show theirs, too. Then you’ll really get a chance to see it.

After you announced your Netflix boycott, you went on radio shows like The Breakfast Club and Sway in the Morning to explain what had happened. Then when you appeared on The View, Whoopi Goldberg told you, “I’m going to stop you because, contractually, when you make a movie, regardless of who you sign the deal with, your job is to go and promote said movie.” She continued saying, “And we’ve had this conversation, and I said if you had called me I could’ve schooled you on what was expected.”
When I sat there on that platform on The View, I felt sorry. I had empathy for my sister Whoopi Goldberg. Because what you’re saying to me is, “You must work for free. I could’ve schooled you.” The very thing I went to The View to speak about was the very thing I experienced on The View. You give me three minutes to talk about inequality? Well, I was there the whole show. When you have a woman saying, “I could have schooled you,” someone would say, “What was the schooling going to be?” When I look at this woman you say is our icon and our legend — she is. But, how many things has Whoopi Goldberg executive produced? Whoopi Goldberg has always been the help, and I say that humbly. So what is it that you’re going to school me on? I’ve been doing it for almost 30 years.

This is a woman who says “I could have schooled you,” and this is a woman who accepted Ted Danson in blackface, and our community praises this woman. So oftentimes, we do it to ourselves. But, I just can’t. Understand, I love my sister. However, when you know you’re being fed the wrong food, you must say, “I can’t chew this, y’all.”

Was there ever an opportunity to address Whoopi privately? I feel like a lot of these things kept happening publicly.
Whoopi and I did have a conversation after that. I was up in Whoopi Goldberg’s dressing room — and you’re the first person I’m telling this to. I said to Whoopi Goldberg, “Listen, sister.” Because she said, “Mo’Nique, you gotta let that go. You gotta move on. People just wanna see what’s going to happen to you next.” I said, “Whoopi, I can’t let it go. I gotta think about the little sister who’s not here yet.” And our icon and our legend said, “You better stop worrying about the little sister who’s not here yet and worry about you.” In that moment I knew I was looking at a woman who didn’t give a damn about me. And if she’s telling me, “Stop worrying about that little girl who not here yet,” well, she forgot about the ones that came before her who were worried about her.

Whew. Mo’Nique let it all out. Does this change your perception of Whoopi?