Mo'Nique calls out Whoopi Goldberg in open letter addressing their 2018 clash on “The View”: 'Willing to do what's right?'

Joey NolfiTue, March 10, 2026 at 2:32 PM UTC

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Whoopi Goldberg and Mo'Nique clash on 'The View' in 2018Credit: ABC (2)Key Points -

Oscar winner Mo'Nique released an open letter calling out Whoopi Goldberg over their 2018 clash on The View.

The actress previously opened up about feeling exploited by the Precious promotional campaign, Tyler Perry, and Oprah Winfrey.

Mo'Nique questioned whether or not Goldberg wanted to stand with "the right people" instead of her, after Goldberg took issue with Mo'Nique's stance on the talk show.

Nearly 10 years after she clashed with Whoopi Goldberg on The View over feeling exploited by the Precious promotion cycle, Oscar winner Mo'Nique has released an impassioned open letter calling out Goldberg over the 2018 moment.

Mo'Nique, 58, shared the letter — addressed to "Sister Whoopi" — late Monday in an Instagram post, in which she began by noting that she felt inspired to address the lingering conflict after seeing a resurfaced clip of her prior interaction with Goldberg, 70, on The View.

"The tone of the comments today seems different from the energy eight years ago, with many people now agreeing with my sentiments about not working for people or entities I don’t owe anything to," Mo'Nique wrote. "I wonder, have your feelings changed since that time?"

The 2018 on-air moment saw Mo'Nique express that she "did all of my contractual obligations" for promoting Precious in 2009, despite feeling pressured to do even more promotion for the Oscar-winning film — which, Mo'Nique alleged, resulted in career setbacks and punishment from director Lee Daniels (with whom she later reconciled and worked with again on 2024's The Deliverance) and producers Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry.

Mo'Nique at 'The Deliverance' premiere in 2024Credit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

"I was also intrigued to learn that in 1993 there was an attempt to sue you regarding Theodore Rex, because it was alleged that you had made a verbal commitment to the film," Mo'Nique wrote in Monday's letter, referencing a prior legal case in which Goldberg was sued over being contractually obligated to complete the film. "Your defense was that you never actually committed. You can imagine how confused I was when I discovered this, especially since when I explained that my only contractual obligation was to Lee Daniels, it didn’t sway your opinion enough to stop you from saying you could have ‘schooled’ me on doing what they expected from me."

Mo'Nique, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Precious and referenced her choice not to campaign in her speech, further claimed that Perry later admitted that she wasn't difficult to work with, but condemned him for not broadcasting that information after she said she suffered career setbacks over the fallout from behind-the-scenes Precious drama.

"The reason I said we must look out for the little girl coming behind us is because of situations like Epstein Island and the other powerful people avoiding accountability. People like Tyler Perry refused to take responsibility, while I had to take responsibility for refusing to sign up for an act of slavery against my will," Mo'Nique alleged. "The worst part is that another woman chastised me on a platform meant to empower women."

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The actress went on to reference former The View producer Candi Carter, who was at the show from 2015-17 and previously worked on The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1996-2011.“Now I don’t know if your opinion of my actions was influenced by your former Executive Producer, Candi Carter’s relationship with Oprah, or by your professional ties with Tyler Perry," she wrote. "But what is interesting is hearing you now speak about the importance of standing up for what’s right. My question is: is your stance truly about standing up against wrongs, or is it about standing with the ‘right people’?”

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Mo'Nique further speculated that Goldberg's "professional ties with Tyler Perry" — the pair spent years working together on bringing the long-delayed Sister Act 3 to the screen — might've impacted her stance on the matter, too.

"But what is interesting is hearing you now speak about the importance of standing up for what’s right. My question is: is your stance truly about standing up against wrong, or is it about standing with the ‘right people’?" Mo'Nique added.

Whoopi Goldberg attends the 'Solo Mio' premiere in 2026Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty

She finished the note by urging Goldberg for a reply, particularly on the topic of "whether you still feel you schooled me correctly" eight years ago on The View.

"But I caution you: if you admit you were wrong, you know you’d be going against all the ‘right people.’ So, are you willing to do what’s right for the little girls coming behind us, or is your position still ‘F’ the little girl coming behind us? I look forward to finding out. Because I was the little girl coming behind you," Mo'Nique wrote.

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for The View, Goldberg, Daniels, Winfrey, and Perry for comment.

Whoopi Goldberg in 'Sister Act'; Tyler PerryCredit: Everett Collection; Emma McIntyre/WireImage

The 2018 incident on The View saw Goldberg raise her hand from the other end of the Hot Topics table after Mo'Nique expressed that she felt she fulfilled her contractual obligations to promote Precious.

"I'm going to stop you, because, contractually, when you make a movie, regardless of who you sign the deal with, your job is to go and promote said movie," Goldberg said at the time. "So, when they wanted you to come — and we've had this conversation, and I said, if you had called me, I could've schooled you on what was expected."

Mo'Nique went on to tell the cohosts, "For eight years, my family has suffered, and my career has suffered because what I would not allow those entities to do is bully me."

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