Mo’Nique caught a lot of flack this week when she called for a boycott of Netflix over perceived “race and gender bias.”
Many, even some supporters, felt she went about the matter wrong and were quick to point out holes in her argument about why she was being offered less for a stand-up special than comedic counterparts Amy Schumer, Dave Chapelle, and Chris Rock.
And, despite painting the debate as one that is bigger than her and an institutional problem affecting fellow Afro-American stars, none have come forward to vouch for her cause.
Until now.
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In a short but telling tweet, comedienne Wanda Sykes fist-pumped in solidarity with Mo’Nique and alleged that she too had been low-balled by Netflix:
While this, on the surface, may lend credence to some of what Mo’Nique is saying, this also highlights where she arguably went wrong.
See, like Wanda, if she was insulted by the deal she should have first taken her business elsewhere (i.e. Amazon Prime, Hulu), secured the bag, and then told her truth. Hell, even incorporate it into her act.
But, whether right or wrong, she’s becoming more synonymous with whining and moaning than successful work. And it need not be like that. Because if she strategized better, she could get her message across while keeping the coins coming in.
Now she’s in a predicament where the platforms and persons she’s publicly dragging won’t want to work with her and prospective partners may be wary too because of her past antics.
We can’t stress how much we “get” where she’s coming from, but her execution and disregard for how the optics look, feels like it’s doing more harm than good.