Mo'Nique calls out bias against Black women in D.L. Hughley dispute: 'You're the reason why I fight for my people'

The growing beef between comedians Mo’Nique and D.L. Hughley is no laughing matter.

During a performance in Detroit on Saturday, the “Almost Christmas” star and Oscar Award winner delivered a fiery opening monologue at the Fox Theatre where she said she was supposed to headline.

“Y’all don’t understand the fight (I) had to go through to stand in front of y’all tonight,” Mo’Nique told the crowd, according to audience footage of the performance at 105.9 KISS-FM’s The Comedy Explosion.

Mo’Nique alleged that Hughley refused to perform at the event if Mo’Nique remained the headliner.

"That's what the (expletive) contract says,” Mo’Nique said. “'Mo'Nique is to be the last (expletive) person on the (expletive) stage. She is the headliner. That's what I signed the (contract for.)"

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Hughley took to Instagram on Sunday to refute Mo’Nique’s claims.

“All you have to do is check the order of names on the ticket stub from last night and you’ll see who’s confused,” Hughley wrote. “Against my better judgment, over the objections of my team and 4 other occasions where I said NO, I decided to take a chance and work with Monique.”

The “Johnson” star then went on to cite other feuds Mo’Nique has had with prominent figures in the entertainment industry, including Oprah Winfrey, Steve Harvey and Netflix, the latter of which Mo’Nique sued in 2019 for race and gender discrimination.

“At some point it can’t be everyone else, IT’S YOU!!,” Hughley continued. “Lesson learned. I didn’t have anything personal against Monique… People paid a lot of money to laugh, not hear about your contract.”

USA TODAY has reached out to both Mo’Nique and Hughley’s representatives for additional comment.

Mo’Nique responded to Hughley’s post with her own Instagram post Monday, in which she called out the 59-year-old comedian for “messing with people who have never messed with you and who once considered you a comrade in comedy.”

“The fact that you point the people to the ticket stubs for the order of the names versus to your contract implies that you don’t have a contract that shows you are the headliner, like i do,” Mo’Nique wrote. “Either show your contract or be quiet."

She added: “But i thank you dl because your you’re the reason why i fight for my people like i do. Anytime you opened for the kings of comedy and I was the headliner for the queens of comedy, and you think you should close the show over me, is a prime example of the bias that Black women have to deal with in this business.”

Hughley then offered a follow-up response, posting a photo of what appears to be a Deal Memo for his performance. The memo states that Hughley was the headline act for The Comedy Explosion and that he would close the event. “After this… I don’t want hear no mo’ about this,” he wrote. “If you have a problem, take it up with management and by that I mean yours.”

Mo’Nique countered Hughley’s follow-up post with her own, posting documentation confirming her headliner slot, including a photo of what appears to be a signed Performance Agreement, which states the 54-year-old comedian was “the headliner of the show and the closing talent for the show.”

“If you notice mine has signatures and D.L. does not,” Mo’Nique wrote of her contract. “What type of iron clad agreement doesn’t have the signatures of the participants involved?”

She concluded: “That said, D.L. we the people will be waiting for your signed agreement.”

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Contributing: Cydney Henderson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mo'Nique, D.L. Hughley feud over headliner status for comedy show