Nina Simone’s daughter Lisa Simone Kelly has defended Zoe Saldana’s casting in the biopic about her mother and slammed the overall production as being based on lies.
Saldana received a lot of backlash for her casting with many saying she didn’t have the right appearance to portray Nina, as she wears a prosthetic nose and darkened her skin with make up.
This lead to a harsh tweet from the official Twitter account for Nina Simone’s music saying “please take Nina’s name out your mouth. For the rest of your life.”
Now Simone Kelly has spoken to Time
about the long-delayed film (Nina): “It’s unfortunate that Zoe Saldana is being attacked so viciously when she is someone who is part of a larger picture.”
“It’s clear she brought her best to this project, but unfortunately she’s being attacked when she’s not responsible for any of the writing or the lies.
“There are many superb actresses of color who could more adequately represent my mother and could bring her to the screen with the proper script, the proper team and a sense of wanting to bring the truth of my mother’s journey to the masses. And Nina, in my opinion, doesn’t do any of that.”
.@zoesaldana Cool story but please take Nina's name out your mouth. For the rest of your life.
— Nina Simone (@NinaSimoneMusic) March 3, 2016
However, Simon Kelly’s main issue with the film is around the plot, which she explains is based on a fictional relationship between her mother and her manager, Clifton Henderson – who she claims was actually gay.
She said: “The movie is about a relationship between my mother and Clifton which never took place. They never had an amorous relationship.
“The project has been tainted from the very beginning. Clearly, it is not the truth about my mother’s life and everyone now knows that. This is not how you want your loved ones remembered.”
