Oprah: Mo'Nique's Brother Apologizes For Molesting Her

Today, Gerald Imes, Mo’Nique’s older brother—who she says was her inspiration for playing Mary Jones in Precious— appeared on Oprah to discuss his molestation of the Academy Award-winning actress, comedian and TV star. Mo’Nique chose not to participate.

Although Mo’Nique has been very open about the sexual abuse at the hands of her older brother, she chose to not appear on Oprah with the rest of her family, but gave O her blessing, saying that she hopes the show will help families experiencing, or about to experience, a similar issue. Mo’Nique hasn’t spoken to Gerald in years, after he gave her a half-assed apology for abusing her, saying, “If you think i did something wrong, then I’m sorry.” Today, he admitted to Oprah that he knows that wasn’t really an apology, and wants to make a sincere one to his sister.

Gerald also admitted that he had been molested by several people as a child, and began drinking, smoking pot, and doing coke at 11 years old in order to deal with the pain. He believes all of this contributes to why he ended up victimizing his sister.

Oprah was skeptical of his reasons for speaking out now, but Gerald swears that it has nothing to do with his sister’s recent Oscar win.

Later in the show, Oprah got weirdly combative with Mo’Nique’s mother regarding her response after she learned about the molestation. This created a weird energy between O and the family. Then Mo’Nique’s father tried to explain that his children were close for years after the abuse, which confused him, and when Oprah tried to school him in the psychology of victims, Gerald got mad, and told her to stop.