He Said, She Said: Creator Says Mo’Nique Was Never Offered ‘Empire’ Or ‘The Butler’ Roles

Mo’Nique once, very briefly. And from my knowledge, unless there was some conversation that I never knew about, we never offered her the part. And it was — she wasn’t going to be Cookie. That was never something that was on the table. For us. We both felt she was incredibly talented and a genius. I’m not saying that she’s not telling the truth….As far as the conversations that I had, with Lee about it. It was always Taraji. That was just one of our earliest ideas…

Strong also denies that she was offered Oprah’s part on ‘The Butler’:

Same exact response…By the way, Lee is very close with Mo’Nique. Maybe they did talk about it in the abstract. I don’t know…But I had never heard that Mo’Nique was going to be in The Butler.

He also tweeted:

Mo’Nique was never offered roles in Empire or The Butler. #SettingRecordStraight @leedanielsent

— Danny Strong (@Dannystrong) February 28, 2015

Actress Gabourey Sidibe, who co-starred along side with Mo’Nique in Precious, tweeted:

It’s sad to see a project like Precious, that was made with such love, be dragged through the mud by selfishness and lies.

— Gabourey Sidibe (@GabbySidibe) March 2, 2015

See Strong’s full interview.

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