Mo’Nique and D.L. Hughley’s Beef Escalated After Her Appearance on Shannon Sharpe’s Podcast

Comedian and actress Mo'Nique made headlines in February 2024 after her recent appearance on Shannon Sharpe's podcast where she aired "out grievances and claims against Oprah, Tyler Perry, Tiffany Haddish and Kevin Hart," as TMZ writes, not to mention D.L. Hughley, who she's had a longtime beef with.

During her interview with Sharpe, Mo'Nique says that the root of their beef stemmed from an appearance she made on Hughley's radio show. The comedian says that Hughley approved of a game of "would you rather" where she was asked the question as to whether or not she preferred her husband had sex with Precious director Lee Daniels with a condom, or intercourse with Karrine Stefans without.

Mo'Nique said that she believes Hughley crossed a line at that time because the question involved her family, and she wanted to talk to him about the slight.

She said that Hughley's only response was, "Well that's how we do it," to which she responded by saying: "Well, how does that uplift our community? I don’t know what y’all trying to insinuate but brother what you doing?" she remarked.

If you're a follower of Hughley's radio show and don't recall this particular episode — there's a reason for that: Mo'Nique said that it never aired because she had her legal team send a cease and desist letter to stop it from ever airing.

She went on to say that even though this incident was the germination of their bad blood, that Hughley had made disparaging and mean remarks to her throughout the years.

“[Hughley said] I was 'bitter. I was dangerous with what I was doing … my husband didn’t know what he was doing.' This went on through the years. 'I was unloved.' All of these things and I said to myself, 'I’m a see you'" (transcript obtained from Atlanta Black Star).

Their feud deepened when in the lead-up to a Memorial Day comedy show on March 28, 2022, at the Fox Theater in Detroit, Mo'Nique says Hughley refused to take the stage or be a part of the performance if Mo'Nique was the closing act.

Mo'Nique purportedly called Hughley a "b---- a--- n-----" for the slight and said during a performance that she "closed for the Queens of Comedy" but Hughley "opened for the Kings of Comedy," as captured by a fan and uploaded online.

Hughley responded to Mo'Nique's comments on Instagram and uploaded an image still of Mo'Nique in her role of Precious, for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress. In the social media post, Hughley names several people that Mo'Nique took issue with in her career after stating that despite being told otherwise he signed on to work with Mo'Nique against his "better judgment."

"Oprah was the problem, Tyler Perry was the problem, Charlamagne was the problem, Steve Harvey was the problem, Lee Daniels was the problem, Netflix was the problem… Now it’s MY turn. At some point it can’t be everyone else, IT’S YOU!! Lesson learned. I didn’t have anything personal against Monique… People paid a lot of money to laugh, not hear about your contract. Apparently, the role you played in PRECIOUS turned out to be an autobiography. I wonder who’s next…" he wrote.

The feud between the two entertainers only worsened after Mo'Nique accused D.L. Hughley of not believing his daughter when she was sexually abused by a 13-year-old boy. Hughley and members of his family called out the "Queen of Comedy" for not providing/understanding the context of her claims and she would later apologize for her remarks.

Fast-forward to Mo'Nique's February 2024 interview with Shannon Sharpe, and Hughley went on to bluntly state that the comedian lied and that he did ultimately respect her wishes because if he didn't then the interview would've aired, again responding to the comedian on Instagram.