Mo’Nique Said It Was Her Idea to Have an Open Marriage With Sidney Hicks

Mo’Nique has been a brilliant force in the entertainment industry. With her career spanning decades, the actor has won numerous awards that back up her talent. The star shared in 2004 that she and her husband, Sidney Hicks are in an open marriage. She later had to defend her relationship saying it was her idea to have an open marriage with her husband.

Mo’Nique and her husband have been vocal about their open relationship

Mo’Nique and her husband Hicks had twin sons in 2005 before getting married. The pair welcomed their children two months early and tied the knot in 2006. That year, Mo’Nique revealed in an interview that she and Hicks were in an open relationship.

She said:

“We have an agreement that we’ll always be honest and if sex happens with another person, that’s not a deal breaker for us, that’s not something where we’ll have to say, ‘Oh my God we’ve got to go to divorce court because you cheated on me.’ Because we don’t cheat.”

Mo’Nique reiterated the same comments to Oprah Winfrey on her show, saying that she was always looking for “that extra oomph” in her previous marriages. She told the media mogul that when she mentioned that she and Hicks are open, people immediately thought of sex.

She said, “I’ve been best friends with my husband since we were 14 years old. When we say open, we’re very honest. There are no secrets.” Mo’Nique and her husband even started a podcast in 2016 to educate couples on the different types of relationships. The podcast plays on their marital situation and is cleverly titled Open Relationship.

The open marriage idea was all Mo’Nique’s

When people hear about open relationships, it’s often assumed that the man initiated it. However, Mo’Nique set the record straight in 2016, asserting that it was all her idea. She told Essence that when she tabled the discussion, she wanted to continue seeing other men. “When I sat down and said this is what I want initially, it was because I wanted to still have sex with who I was seeing,” she said.

She noted that people understood it when the discussion was attached to couples like Will and Jada Pinkett Smith or Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie because “they’re both beautiful people.” However, when it came to her, Mo’Nique said the conversation centered around concern for her with people not understanding how she could “possibly have a man that looks like that if there was not something else involved.”

Mo’Nique also said she approached the situation with an ego since she was more famous than Hicks. She said, “Initially when I said it, I had the attitude of whoever makes the money, makes the rules. And because I’m famous and I have the money I can do whatever I want to do.” The actor shared that when Hicks wanted the same deal, she got offended but later understood him.

Other celebrity couples in open marriages

Shirley MacLaine and her husband Steve Parker may have divorced in 1982, but the actor believes their marriage lasted nearly three decades because it was open.

Will and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, also spoke about their open marriage. When Pinkett Smith reportedly had a relationship with singer August Alsina, he said he obtained permission from Will, who refuted the claims.

Dolly Parton and her husband of 50 years’ Carl Dean have also embraced the don’t-ask-don’t-tell nature of open relationships, which seems to have worked for them.