50 Cent Pledges to Put Mo’Nique ‘Back On’ After Fans Plead for Him to Cast Her on a ‘Power’ Spinoff
50 Cent heard your calls and is trying to make something happen with Mo’Nique. After a social media campaign from fans for Hollywood to cast her again, the Power producer vowed to put Mo’Nique “back on.” He had previously teased that they might even collaborate together, leading to calls to put her on one of the Power spinoffs.
50 Cent kickstarted a campaign to bring Mo’Nique back to the spotlight
This all started earlier in March, when 50 Cent shared on Instagram a mashup of a scene from Mo’Nique’s 2009 movie Precious and a clip from Power. “I gotta get @therealmoworldwide back in pocket,” he said of the actor, whose performance in the film won Mo’Nique her first Oscar. “We only suppose to cancel sh** that ain’t good for the culture. we need you to WIN again now MONIQUE.”
He was referring to Mo’Nique’s claims that she was blackballed after refusing to promote Precious without payment. The film was directed by Lee Daniels and had Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry aboard as executive producers. Mo’Nique recalled learning she had been blackballed in a 2015 interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“I got a phone call from Lee Daniels maybe six or seven months ago,” she remembered. “And he said to me, ‘Mo’Nique, you’ve been blackballed.’ And I said, ‘I’ve been blackballed? Why have I been blackballed?’ And he said, ‘Because you didn’t play the game.’ And I said, ‘Well, what game is that?’ And he gave me no response.”
Fans would love to see her on a ‘Power’ show
Mo’Nique has only appeared in a handful of projects since, but 50 Cent is working to get her back into the spotlight. “All in favor of @therealmoworldwide being back on top 🤨 say make it happen 50! STOP F****** AROUND,” he wrote on Instagram amid the buzz over his initial post.
The post received over 100,000 likes and countless comments from fans, many of whom asked the rapper to cast her on Power Book II: Ghost.
“Put her in GHOST!! Mary needs a sister,” read one comment, referring to Mary J. Blige’s character Monet Tejada.
“Make it fn happen [with] either a new show or Monet sister,” said another. “Either way she gonna have a memorable character.”
Someone else suggested, “She could be Monet’s mother!”
50 Cent gave an update
50 Cent also called on Winfrey and Perry to apologize to Mo’Nique, claiming they used their influence to railroad the comedian. “I’m sure Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry would not want to continue to allow there influence to damage @therealmoworldwide career and this has gone on for way to long. So now would be a great time to apologize because i’m gonna put her back on,” he wrote.
Neither Winfrey nor Perry publicly responded to his comments, but 50 Cent later claimed he’d talked to Perry, who said he “never to anyone not to hire [Mo’Nique]” and was “happy [50] decided to work with her.”
“He said he couldn’t speak for Oprah but he is sure she is fine with [Mo’Nique] and has even brought her up for things [Mo’Nique] has no idea about,” 50 continued. “I’m so happy for Mo right now ! GLG. GreenLightGang. She Back.”
Has Mo’Nique responded to 50 Cent?
So far, Mo’Nique has not publicly commented on 50’s efforts. While she is active on social media, she only has a handful of posts from March, at the time of this writing.
So fingers crossed. In the meantime, check out the Power spinoffs now on Starz. The latest show, Power Book IV: Force, airs on Sunday nights at 8 p.m. ET.
