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Mo’Nique Defends Roseanne After Racist Twitter Rant: 'When People Turned on My Sister Roseanne Barr, I Couldn’t Do It'

WBLS Staff
11/14/2018 12:00 AM EST

Photo Credit: Getty Images

Mo’Nique is preparing for her upcoming comedy show at Chicago’s The Improv this weekend, and says her set highlights the more challenging moments of her life. But before opening up about her life on stage, she opened up to the Chicago Tribune about her never-ending feud with Oprah, Lee Daniels, and Tyler Perry; her former BET talk show; and the reason she is adamant about defending her “sister,” Roseanne Barr, after her racist rant debacle.

As the Tribune’s Nina Metz didn’t hold back any questions for the seemingly blacklisted comedienne, she candidly shared her thoughts about Roseanne and the backlash she doesn’t think her colleague deserved.

“When people turned on my sister Roseanne Barr, I couldn’t do it. Because there were Black entertainers who would not come on The Mo’Nique Show because it was quote-unquote ‘too black.’ But when I called on my sista, she said (imitating Barr): ‘Where is it and what time you need me to come?'”

Mo’Nique continued, saying, “When the cameras weren’t rolling, she said to me: ‘Listen, you’re the real deal. Don’t let them use you up and take advantage of you, because they will. Don’t you let them do that to you.’ Now, a racist woman ain’t gonna say that to me.”

Photo Credit: Dr. Billy Ingraml/Getty Images

When Nina pushed Mo’Nique, calling Barr’s tweets “blatantly racist,” Mo said, “I’m gonna say this: We’re comedians. And I know her. And what she thought was funny, as a comedian, that’s what it was.”

She followed up by saying, “Has she ever said, ‘Kill Black people’?”

The interview goes on from there, but Mo’Nique is dedicated to helping preserve her “sister’s” “good name.”

“Here’s what I know about this woman: She was behind the scenes fighting for the black (concert) promoters. Nobody knows that. She’s behind the scenes trying to push a documentary about Malcolm X with a brother who’s a Muslim. So when I know about this these things personally, did my sista say some things in poor taste? Some people could say yes. But what I won’t label her is a racist. When she sends me a DM that says, ‘My love, we will rise again like the Phoenix’ — a racist woman wouldn’t do that, would she?

Read Mo’Nique’s full interview with the Chicago Tribune here.