Lee Daniels Says Friendship With Mo'Nique 'Stood The Test Of Time' After 14 Year Long Public Feud: 'She Continues To Amaze Me'
After a years-long public feud, Mo'Nique and Lee Daniels have made up and is promoting their new film together.
Daniels posted a photo of him with the comedian enjoying a dinner and holding hands on Instagram for their "first press day for The Deliverance."
"It got me reflecting on the 25-year friendship I've had with the actor @moworldwide. Like any REAL friendship, it's one that's stood the test of times. AND BOY HAVE OUR TIMES BEEN TESTED," the Academy Award-nominated director said in the Tuesday post.
"From our first film, Shadowboxer, to our second film, Precious, into #TheDeliverance, she continues to amaze me at the depths of where she goes," Daniels, 64, continued. "It's like she has a bottomless pit of emotions to play with. I can't wait for you to see her as you've never seen her before. She's Cynthia, the concerned ... social worker."
Mo'Nique, real name Monique Angela Hicks, first met the producer and screenwriter at a Los Angeles restaurant in 2004, according to 'The Hollywood Reporter.'
After the 'Queens of Comedy' alumna reportedly refused to promote 'Precious' without additional compensation from Lionsgate, the pair had a public falling out and did not speak for years. Mo'Nique, 54, claimed after the fact she was labeled difficult to work with and blackballed in Hollywood, despite her Academy Award win for Best Supporting Actress in 2010.
Daniels, who is the first African American film producer to solely produce an Oscar-winning film (2001's 'Monster's Ball' starring Halle Berry), cast Mo'Nique in 'The Reading' last year, the first sign the pair had rekindled their friendship.
Mo'Nique, who also executive produced the film alongside her husband Sidney Hicks, played recently widowed writer Emma Leeden, who details the loss of her family in her new book. The film was released on BET+ in February 2023.
"Not only did I want to reach out to her," explained Daniels, "but I realized I wanted to work with her again. It's crazy, sometimes, how life is."
Now, the pair are promoting their latest venture 'The Deliverance.'
According to 'IMDb,' the film follows "A family living in a home in Indiana discover strange, demonic occurrences that convince them and the community that the house is a portal to hell."
Alongside Mo'Nique, the film stars Andra Day, Glenn Close and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. It debuts on Netflix on August 30.
