Mo'Nique Highlights Bias Against Black Women Amid D.L. Hughley Feud

Mo’Nique is not happy how with D.L. Hughley is treating her, and she’s not going down without a fight.

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During a performance in Detroit this weekend, the Oscar winner gave fans at the Fox Theatre an unapologetic opening monologue, saying she was supposed to headline 105.9 KISS-FM’s “The Comedy Explosion.”

“Y’all don’t understand the fight [I] had to go through to stand in front of y’all tonight,” Mo’Nique told the crowd, according to audience footage of her performance.

Throughout her set, Mo’Nique went on to allege that D.L. Hughley refused to perform at the event if Mo’Nique remained the headliner as originally planned.

“That’s what the f****** contract says,” the comedian said. “’Mo’Nique is to be the last f****** person on the f****** stage. She is the headliner. That’s what I signed the (contract for.)”

While he seemingly didn’t address the issue on stage that night, Hughley took to Instagram the next day to fire back at Mo’Nique’s claims.

“All you have to do is check the order of names on the ticket stub from last night and you’ll see who’s confused,” D.L. wrote on social media. “Against my better judgment, over the objections of my team and 4 other occasions where I said NO, I decided to take a chance and work with Monique.”

The comedian went on to point at other feuds Mo’Nique has been in with others in the entertainment industry, which includes Oprah Winfrey and Steve Harvey. She also sued Netflix in 2019 for race and gender discrimination.

“At some point it can’t be everyone else, IT’S YOU!!,” Hughley continued in his caption. “Lesson learned. I didn’t have anything personal against Monique… People paid a lot of money to laugh, not hear about your contract.”

Mo’Nique Responds To D.L. Hughley

Mo’Nique proceeded to respond to D.L.’s post with her own IG post on Monday, calling out the comedian for “messing with people who have never messed with you and who once considered you a comrade in comedy.”

She also alleged that she was facing bias as a Black woman.

“The fact that you point the people to the ticket stubs for the order of the names versus to your contract implies that you don’t have a contract that shows you are the headliner, like i do,” she wrote. “Either show your contract or be quiet.”

 “But i thank you dl because your you’re the reason why i fight for my people like i do,” she added. “Anytime you opened for the kings of comedy and I was the headliner for the queens of comedy, and you think you should close the show over me, is a prime example of the bias that Black women have to deal with in this business.”

D.L. Hughley Posts His Deal Memo In Response To Mo’Nique

The feud between the comedians continued with D.L. posting his deal memo for the comedy show in question. The memo indeed stated that he was headlining act for the show and would close out the event.

After this… I don’t want hear no mo’ about this,” he wrote. “If you have a problem, take it up with management and by that I mean yours.”

Mo’Nique Posts Her Performance Memo In Response To D.L. Hughley

Then, Mo’Nique took matters into her own hands, posting her contract and a lineup that shows her taking the stage last, scheduled to headline the show at 9:40 pm.

“Now, you told me to check with my management and this is what I came up with, so how’d did I do?” she wrote in her caption, in part. “That said, D.L. we the people will be waiting for your signed agreement.”

She labeled DL’s deal memo “smoke and mirrors” and said that her performance agreement trumped the fellow comedian’s paper work.

“Can you say receipts? LOL,” wrote Mo’Nique.

Yikes…It’s safe to say this back-and-forth is far from over.