Mo'Nique: Big 'Push' Help Tell Of Her Own Incest

By Brennan Williams, BlackVoices.com

Over the past 10 years, Mo'Nique has become one of the foremost funny-woman in Hollywood.

But the plus-sized comedienne's recent revelation of teenage sex abuse is no laughing matter.

In the October issue of 'Essence,' the Baltimore native reveals that she was sexually abused by her brother at the tender age of seven.

"I was molested by my older brother," she tells writer Audrey Edwards during one of her most candid interviews ever. "And even when I confronted him and told my parents, he said I was lying, and nothing was really done."

'The Parkers' star said that her brother molested her four times over the course of four years, using certain tactics such as candy to lure her into the bathroom.

Her parents, she said, were in disbelief, but she didn't hold them accountable "because me and my brother were both their children, and I just don't know the kind of position they felt they were in."

However, the way her parents handled the situation left her bewildered.

MoNique Pictures

"My father was very upset, but it never got mentioned again," she added. "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."

Mo'Nique's alleged sexual abuse came full circle when playing her latest role as an abusive parent in Lee Daniels'; forthcoming film, 'Push.' Based on the seminal 1996 novel of the same name by Sapphire, the story is a graphic account of a young black woman growing up in a cycle of incest and abuse.

"My brother was a monster to me," she commented. "When Lee [Daniels] would say 'Action,' I became my brother."

Her brother, she said went on to serve 15 years in prison for sexually abusing another girl and never made amends for the abuse.

"He still acts like he doesn't know what I'm talking about," she vented in the magazine, which hit newsstands today."So screw hurting your feelings. You need to get your feelings hurt, and you need to get some help."

Mo'Nique, who serves as Guest Editor of the magazine, a special issue dedicated to plus-sized women, admitted to being nervous about telling her painful truth but felt it was her duty.

"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, Goddamn it, it's my obligation to let people know, and to tell women to watch their children."