MO'NIQUE IN OCTOBER 2008 ISSUE OF ESSENCE MAGAZINE; ACTRESS SPILLS THE TEA ON BEING MOLESTED BY HER BROTHER; HER NEW MOVIE ROLE. IS SHE OSCAR BOUND?

For the umpteenth time, actress/comedian/author Mo’Nique is featured on the cover of Essence magazine’s October 2008 issue where she reveals a painful yet unfunny secret she’s been keeping to herself for the past 25 years: she was sexually abused by her older brother from the age of 7 until she was 11 years old. ‘I was molested by my older brother. And even when I confronted him and told my parents, he said I was lying and nothing was really done,’ she says. Wow, right? From the way I’ve heard her speak about her relationship with her father, who doted on night and day, it makes me wonder why he wouldn’t believe his baby girl. Anyhoo, Mo’Nique, now 40 years old, says her brother, who is 10 years older than her, molested her four times over the next four years after following her into the bathroom and giving her candy. When she turned 15, Mo’Nique finally mustered up enough courage to tell her parents again after a very violent episode (which she didn’t discuss in the article) took place. And although she says she doesn’t blame her parents for what happened to her, she says there were times when she was angry at them.

“I’m not blaming my parents because me and my brother were both their children, and I just don’t know the kind of position they felt they were in. My father was very upset, but it never got mentioned again. I’ll never forget my mother saying, ’If it’s true, it will surface again,’ and I remember thinking, Why would I lie? Why is there even an if in this? I was angry with them for so long, because I felt as if they should have seen what was happening. It seems celebrities always come out with these stories. But we’re real people, and a lot of real people get molested."

As for her brother, Mo’Nique has thought about the repercussions her revelation could have on him, saying:

“It makes me nervous. It’s like, Oh, God, what will it do to him when people read this? And then another part of me is like, Goddammit it, it’s my obligation to let people know, and to tell women to watch their children. I’ve never gotten a genuine ‘I’m sorry’ from my brother. He still acts like he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. So screw hurting your feelings! You need to get your feelings hurt, and you need to get some help. Because I never said anything--didn’t go to the police or a counselor--my brother went on to do terrible things to someone else. He went on to sexually abuse another girl.”

For that crime, her brother was arrested, convicted and served 15 years in prison.

"[After my birth delivery] my mother put my twin boys (who are now three years old) in my brother’s arms and I suddenly thought, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend. I didn’t want to make a scene at the hospital, but when I got home I called my brother and said, ‘You know what? If I never see you again in life, I’m okay. I wish you no harm, but I don’t choose to ever deal with you again.’…Parents, please listen if your baby comes to you and says anything like ‘I was uncomfortable with the way he looked at me or the way he touched me.’ Listen to them. Molestation has a damaging effect. I tried on several occasions to turn the pain of molestation into humor, but never could. I was too embarrassed to do therapy because I was always told it was a White woman’s thing. But therapy for me has been beautiful because I’m learning not to be a victim."

Mo'Nique's has not been in touch with her brother since.

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AFTER THE JUMP, READ ABOUT THE NEW MOVIE ROLE THAT ENCOURAGED MO’NIQUE TO SPILL HER SECRET & WHY FOLKS IN THE INDUSTRY ARE ALREADY MAKING HER NAME SYNONYMOUS WITH THE WORDS ‘ACADEMY AWARD.’

With Pepa and Faith releasing their tell-all books to reveal to the world what they went through, what prompted Mo’Nique to reveal her most darkest secret is her dramatic role in the new film Push. And if it’s as gritty as she says it is, we may not recognize the woman we’ve come to know as the funny and unpredictable Ms. Nikki Parker. In Push, which is directed by Monster’s Ball director Lee Daniels, Mo’Nique plays Mary Jones, a woman who sexually violates her own daughter---she forces her child to perform oral sex on her, beats her, makes her gorge on food--and let’s her husband continue the abuse by raping their daughter, getting her pregnant twice. Talk about being dysfunctional!! This movie, as well as Mo’Nique’s performance in it is so unimaginably ugly, unyielding and downright deplorable that some folks in the industry are already saying that this movie can do for Mo’Nique what Monster’s Ball did for Halle Berry--earn her an Academy Award.

"The boldness and honesty she brings to this character takes my breath away," says Daniel. "She metamorphoses into an absolute beast. Sometimes I had to step away and do a double take, because I found myself completely not recognizing her." Mo'Nique adds, "My brother was a monster to me. When Lee would say 'Action,' I became my brother."