Last week, the battle between Mo’Nique and those in the industry she feels has wronged her reached new levels after the comedian published audio clips of private phone calls she had with Tyler Perry.
For years, Mo has claimed Perry, Oprah Winfrey, and Lee Daniels have worked to block her from getting work in Hollywood and she pointed to her conversation with Perry, and a recent incident between Daniels and music mogul Dame Dash, as proof. Now, the Empire co-creator is speaking out about his recent run-in with Dash and why he still believes Mo’Nique harmed her own career.
During an interview on Raq Rants, Daniels said he will give Dash back the $2 million the music producer loaned him to help finance his early films.
“This Black man gave me money when nobody [would], not Disney, not Sony, not TriStar, not Paramount, not Warner Bros,” Daniels said. “I don’t know if I would be successful if it weren’t for him.”
While Daniels promised to do right by Dash, when it came to his rift with Mo’Nique, Daniels said the two situations are “completely different.”
“She was paid her money. She was paid her money from the budget that we had,” Daniels said, disputing the actor’s claim that Daniels and his Precious co-producers stiffed her. “For her to badmouth myself and Tyler, and Oprah is disrespectful.”
Though Mo has repeatedly accused Perry, Winfrey, and Daniels of blackballing her after her Oscar win, Daniels said he can’t understand why she has been so critical of them because they were “really down with Mo.”
“She needs to shut up,” Daniels ultimately said. “I would have run with that Oscar opportunity and soared.”