Mo’Nique criticizes Oprah for talking about Houston’s alleged drug use when she can’t defend herself.
Rickey Smiley condemns Oprah and Gayle King for discussing public figures’ personal struggles.
Whitney’s estate denies Oprah’s claims, saying her fall was due to stage lighting, not drug use.
Mo’Nique offers a “correction” to his eternal enemy, Oprahthis time after the media mogul’s heavily criticized remarks about the late, great Whitney Houston.
Source: Steve Granitz/ Vince Bucci/ Michael Loccisano
During a recent appearance at My husband is my best friend The YouTube channel, comedian and Oscar winner was asked for his thoughts on Oprah’s claim that Houston had fallen off stage during a taping of her show due to alleged drug use.
“How do you talk about someone who can’t defend it?” Mo’Nique said. “That, in my humble opinion, makes it different because that woman can’t say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and now you just want everyone to take your word for it. That, I think, is unfair.”
She continued,
“I still love my sister, Oprah Winfrey, let me be clear. People think in correction, that means you don’t love. It’s simply just correction.”
This isn’t the first time Mo’Nique has mentioned Oprah in the name of “correction.”
Many may recall that the two, along with Tyler Perry and Lee Daniels, have had a long-running and public feud since collaborating on the 2009 film, Costly. Daniels and Mo’Nique have since hit it off and worked together on the Netflix movie The deliverance (2024); however, the comedian and actress have stood by their assessment that Oprah let them down while promoting Precious and have refused to allow her to be properly compensated.
Oprah’s remarks about the beloved Nippy have been met with pushback as many people shared the same sentiments as Mo’Nique. Comedian and radio host Rickey Smiley, whose own son struggled with substance abuse before his untimely death in 2023 from an accidental overdose, spoke out against Oprah’s decision to share the alleged incident and also called out his best friend and fellow journalist Gayle King on the carpet.
“I don’t care if she was tall,” Smiley said in a live stream. “Whitney Houston is gone and she meant a lot to us. Whitney Houston was a big sister to a lot of us and she’s pretty much Black America’s auntie. And everybody has a Whitney Houston in their family; someone they love who’s talented. That’s something about Whitney Houston’s death, we took her death personally. I know Whitney Houston is someone you just don’t talk about in the black community if you’re in touch.
He continued,
“It’s black royalty that you just don’t talk about. We’re not playing about Whitney Houston. I don’t care what her downfalls were, we all have downfalls. We’ve all had people we know or family members struggle with addiction. Why would you bring that thing up? Why is that when it comes to you and Gayle — I remember when Kobe Bryant was accused of being accused of Lisaadlie and she was accused of being accused of Lisaud. innocent to – why do you like to bring this up.
The story became even more eyebrow-raising when Houston’s estate, led by her sister-in-law Pat Houston, released a statement refuting Oprah’s claims. According to Houston, Whitney’s fall was due to an improperly lit stage, not her drug use.
“From the 2009 interview on the Oprah Winfrey show, Whitney fell completely off the stage, but it was during a sound check and it was due to the darkness of the area and her unfamiliarity with the stage,” the statement reads. The Hollywood Reporter. “She was definitely not tall. This story was picked up by several media outlets. Like many people, she faced personal struggles, but it’s inaccurate and unfair to attach that struggle to every performance or every chapter of her life.”
She continued,
“Whitney’s humanity included triumphs and struggles, but that day she proved herself to be the professional and gifted artist she has always worked to be. We owe her the dignity of telling the truth, not repeating myths.”
Neither Oprah nor her team have commented on the statement from Whitney’s estate or issued a retraction.
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