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Mo'Nique on Lee Daniels's E-mails: 'My Character Was in Question'

Claims the Empire creator said, "I can't let you mess with my money."

Mo'Nique is making the promotional rounds for her new film, Blackbird, and while stopping at Power 105's The Breakfast Club, the actress spilled the beans on why she decided to leak Lee Daniels's e-mails. The Precious star told DJ Envy, Angela Yee and Charlamagne Tha God that she felt like her character was in question. "I take pride in my character," she said. "It was when Mr. Strong [co-creator of Empire] made the statement that 'She was never offered the role,' and 'That never happened.' It's like, 'Guys, I have the communication, here.'"

| VIDEO: MO'NIQUE SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ABOUT EMPIRE ON WENDY WILLIAMS |

The queen of comedy went even more in-depth, giving more details on how the whole debacle went down, "He said, 'Hey mama, got this role for you. It's Cookie for this pilot I'm doing, Empire,' she said of their exchange. "We laughed and joked about it, talked about it, got the size for it. He said, 'Now, listen. We've got this technical thing, this screen test thing, because it's TV and you know I don't know too much about TV."

Mo'Nique explained that after she and Daniels conversed about her involvement in the project, she and her team were waiting to receive a date for the screen test, but their calls weren't being returned. When she finally received a call from Daniels, she was given news that she was expecting to hear.

"When I finally get a call, he says, 'Listen, FOX says you're difficult,'" she said. "He was like, 'Well, they just want to go with Taraji P. Henson...' He said, 'Well, you know I can't let you mess with my money.' That is what our conversation was."

The acclaimed actress even thinks Henson was a better fit for the role, saying, "Taraji P. Henson is the baddest Cookie Lyon that television could ever see. So the person that was supposed to get it, got it... My sister is killing it. There's no comparison."

Despite the seemingly shady situation between her and Daniels, the Oscar-winning actress holds no ill will towards her former business partner. She explained that, above all, she still considers Daniels a friend. "Lee Daniels and I are cool," she said. "It's one of those things when you know you have a friend and your friend went a little left a bit and you're waiting for him to come back over. I'm just waiting for him to come on back over."

Elsewhere in the interview, Mo'Nique talks about why she decided to tackle the issue of homosexuality in Blackbird, receiving career advice from Martin Lawrence and producing a film on a limited budget.

Check out the full interview below:

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