Mo’Nique’s eldest son, Shalon Jackson, responded to his mother’s remarks on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast about how their strained mother-son relationship needed healing time.
In a nearly 10-minute video posted on TikTok Tuesday, Feb. 13, Jackson claimed his mother’s statement on her praying to the universe to reconcile their relationship was a “false narrative” and that none of them put in effort to mend things.
“I would like to free her from having to continue telling that lie,” detailed Jackson. “Faith without work is dead, and neither one of us cares to put forth any effort to reconcile with the other. We are separate, as she put it because she doesn’t care to be my mother any more than I care to be her son.”
He continued, “Neither one of us has had the desire to reach out to the other in a very long time, and I don’t think that either of us anticipates that feeling ever returning.”
Jackson accused the comedic actress of not having an interest in caring for him as a son and not taking accountability for their strained relationship.
“If I had to guess, though, her interest in being a mother probably started around the time that she married her daddy and had his children,” he said. “But that interest, you know, obviously seemed one-sided and as it should have been. By that time, I’m in my late teens. So, to some degree, the neglect becomes easier to hide or validate.”
Jackson persisted, “I guess you could say there are now two baby boys in the house. You know, that requires attention…To this very day, my mother had never expressed to me when, if ever, she became interested in me as her son. That did lead me down a path of questioning my self-worth and struggling to understand the value of a mother in a child’s life.”
The 34-year-old said he didn’t want his mother to have a relationship with his child, considering their relationship. But he affirmed he had no ill feelings towards her relationship with her other three sons.
Shortly after the video surfaced, Mo’Nique and her husband, Sidney Hicks, responded to Jackson’s claims in a video of their own the same day.
Hicks insinuated Jackson pushed them away when Mo’Nique “allotted” him the time to spend together, claiming the 34-year-old only wanted that time at his convenience.
Hicks also stated they helped with negotiating a deal with Jackson’s car dealer and gave him half of the down payment.
“We still love you, Shalon,” Hicks stated. “That’s why your mother and your father interact with one another to let them be aware. Of what’s happening with you. So if you think you’re not in love, that’s because you’re not paying attention and the other dynamics that fall into play, which we completely understand.”
He continued, “And for you, too, we’re going to keep the light on for you, but I find it extremely ironic That the last time you saw me you wanted to be able to call me dad. And I couldn’t allow you to call me dad because there’s only one dad in your life, and he’s a friend of ours.”
On Wednesday, Feb. 14, Jackson fired back at Hick and Mo’Nique’s response video, condemning “daddy” for passing his response off “as a moment,” stating it was offensive to those with actual mental health issues.
He also acknowledged the screenshots of text messages between him and Mo’Nique that she sent him and posted on her Instagram as “receipts.”
“What kind of person still has a text message from their wife’s son, that is over two years old, still in their phone saved, just for the purpose of reshowing it to him?” Jackson questioned.
The text messages showed the two weren’t always available to talk or text much, with Mo’Nique’s busy schedule and Jackson taking care of his baby. He referenced when the comedian said she had broken her phone and couldn’t reach him after he asked her over text about a condition called hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) concerning his child.
The text read: “Hey, ma. Have you ever heard of hyperhidrosis? It’s an excessive sweating disorder.” Mo’Nique texted back that she hadn’t but would research it. The following texts showed she missed a call from him, and she suggested they talked the following day.
“I’ll assume your phone and the phones of those around you were all broken, which I wanted to believe was the reason why you did not respond to a message from your son expressing his concern over some bumps that your grandchild had on her back,” Jackson said. “You would later make it your business to tell me that you got the message and chose not to respond because her other grandmother is a nurse. Damn fact that she is also your blood.”
Jackson confirmed he and his girlfriend accepted $10,000 from Hicks and Mo’Nique, clarifying they offered to give the money for a down payment without the 34-year-old asking for it. He claimed The Parkers actress had Uniform Transfer to Minors (UTMA) worth $45,000 for Jackson, but when he needed it while homeless, Mo’Nique allegedly forgot about it. He eventually attained the money.
Regarding Hick’s claim that Jackson wanted to call him “dad,” the 33-year-old corrected him, saying he wanted to call him “pop” since the Precious co-star and his other sons called him “daddy” or “dad” while Jackson called him “Uncle.”
“For a very short time, I did feel that way about you, but the more things change, the more they stay the same,” he said.
