Mo'nique Proves That She Was Offered To Play Cookie Lyon On Fox's Empire

Mo’Nique openly admitted to being blackballed in the industry, and so she’s been on a non-stop promo trail to clear her name and repair her tarnished rep. In a recent visit to Sway in the Morning, Mo’Nique dug up some old emails to prove she was considered for the role of Cookie.

Weeks back, Mo’Nique claimed she was offered the role of Cookie Lyons on Empire. However lead writer Danny Strong denied this, saying she at no point was offered the role. Given the conflicting versions of the story, it was clear that someone was incorrect. Well, Mo’Nique was able to pull together some emails between herself and Lee Daniels’ reps proving she was a top choice for the role. “I take pride in my character” says Mo’Nique. “When you put it on the line like that and people begin to question me about my character–and these aren’t strangers, these are folks that know me. We done been in conversations; we done broke bread together. So, I wanted to bring the e-mails to you. And you can read them publicly or privately…I just wanted to put it out there, ‘Hey guys, clear my name.’ That’s it.”

The first email Sway read proved Mo’Nique was considered for the role of Cookie.

Feb 18, 2014

Good Afternoon, 

Lee Daniels had a conversation with Mo’Nique about his new television pilot for Imagine Tv/Fox called “Empire.” We would like to screen test her for the role of ‘Cookie.’ Please contact us with her television quotes, so that we can start a test, option, deal. We are tentatively looking at Monday, Feb 24 for the screen test. 

 Feb 18

Hello I am following up on my previous e-mail regarding Lee Daniels’ pilot and Mo’Nique’s television quotes. This is a time sensitive matter. Lee really does not want Mo’Nique to miss this opportunity. 

Mo’Nique said that Lee actually offered her the role leading up to the final email, but told her it was protocol to formally audition first. Then, she received this:

March 3

…Unfortunately it’s not going any further for Mo’Nique. Lee fought for her because he thought she would be great for the pilot but studio and network executives insisted on offering the role to Taraji. Thank you so much for providing us with her information. Sorry it didn’t work out. We’re all big fans of hers. 

Since Daniels’ has confirmed that people in the industry find Mo’Nique difficult to work with, it’s reasonable to think that had something to do with Fox’s decision. Mo’Nique said she forwarded Daniels the above email chain, giving him a chance to clear her name before she went public with it. When he didn’t respond, Mo’Nique decided to read them on air to protect her reputation.