There may be two Aretha Franklin biopics coming out this year, but only one so far is receiving endorsement from members of the Queen of Soul’s immediate family.
Aretha Franklin: The Life and Career of the Queen of Soul
Earlier this week, the late singer’s granddaughter Grace Franklin posted a TikTok of her family protesting the release of Genie: Aretha, NatGeo’s four-episode series starring Oscar-nominated actress Cynthia Erivo as Aretha. The series, of which playwright Suzan-Lori Parks is the showrunner, opens on Sunday. In the clip, she is singing along with her parents, siblings and friends, “This film has to go! This movie has to go! ”
“As an immediate family, we feel it is important to be involved with any biographical film of my grandmother’s life, as it is difficult to get an accurate description of someone’s life without talking to the people closest to them,” she says later in the clip. “During the process of writing, directing and filming this film, we look for Genius as a family on several occasions when we were disrespected and told that we would not be served. As an immediate family – emphasis on the immediate – we do not support this film and we ask that you also do not support this film, as we feel extremely disrespected and feel that there will be many inaccuracies about my grandmother’s life. “
In a phone call on Friday, her father and Aretha’s son, Kecalf Franklin, supported his daughter’s words. “What we’ve found in the past is that usually when people don’t want to work with you, it’s a prelude to some kind of unprofessional behavior or a prelude to some kind of lies or slander, so we’re not sure where we’ll see in this series ”, He says Rolling Stone, adding that he hasn’t seen any video clips yet. Genius and I’m not going to watch it on Sunday. “It’s usually the case when people say they don’t want to work with you.”
Production in Genius it started about two years ago, just a few months after Aretha Franklin’s death in 2018 from pancreatic cancer. At the time, Kecalf’s cousin, Sabrina Garrett-Owens, served as the property’s personal representative. When she resigned, she had not yet reached an agreement on the family’s involvement in the film. It was at this time that Kecalf said that communication between Genius crew and their family. When they tried to restore it, he said they were rejected.
“We asked our lawyers to look for them to see if we could make a contribution and see the film and say what we like and what we don’t like about it,” he says. “And the report we received said that it was too late, production had already ended and that they did not want to work with us. Basically, it was too late.
“I felt it was not too late, however, because of the length of time the film was going to fall and also the length of time we were in contact with them,” he continues. “It seems that the final editing had not been done, that there was something that could have been done in that area, perhaps after we had done a preview. They submitted a non-disclosure agreement, but the terms of that agreement were not giving us creative control or anything like that. So it’s like they just want us to check it out. But if we didn’t like it, ‘Oh, well. Excuse me.'”
Franklin claims that the misunderstanding has nothing to do with any financial interest; any licensing of his mother’s songs would pass through his property, an entity separate from his immediate family, and he said he was unaware of any agreements between the producers and the property. “It is a common and decent respect for our family,” he says. “If I were to make a film about your family, I would try to talk to you, your sons, daughters, grandchildren and people like that. And we never feel like we have a chance to talk to them freely, from the heart, about our family member. ”
In a statement, NatGeo acknowledged a disconnect with the Franklin family, but maintained the way they conducted research for the Genius series, which focused on previous seasons on Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso.
“We received the message from the family, heard and acknowledged their concern for the legacy of Mrs. Franklin,” said a representative of the network in a statement to the Rolling Stone. “We think we have a common goal here – to honor and celebrate Aretha Franklin’s life and legacy. We can say that everyone who worked in Genie: Aretha addressed by telling her story with the intention of respecting Mrs. Franklin in all aspects of the series and in all the decisions we make.
“The studio worked diligently to obtain an endorsement of Aretha’s estate, which we are grateful to have,” the statement continues. “We worked with many people who knew Mrs. Franklin – from Clive Davis to members of her family’s property – to make sure we told her story in an honest and authentic way. This series is called Genius – is a tribute to Aretha’s genius – something we hope to be able to celebrate. One of the comments of a guest who attended our premiere last week was: ‘Aretha has lived life so much … she needs 100 biopics!’ We can’t say any better! “
Kecalf, who is one of Aretha’s four children, thinks that the only family members the producers could have spoken to would be some of his cousins. Rolling Stones requests to clarify who NatGeo worked with on the property were not returned. (Reginald M. Turner, the lawyer representing Franklin’s estate, declined to comment.)
After reading NatGeo’s statement on Friday afternoon, Kecalf wrote a statement in response. “THE Genius the series contract was started by my cousin Sabrina Garrett-Owens and her lawyer, David Bennett, ”he said. “When my brothers and I became aware of this project, the Genius the series had already started production. It is our opinion that the producers of this series have neglected to take the necessary measures to properly prepare for this biographical production. Most creatives start with a subject’s immediate family to produce the most authentic and honest version of that person’s life. In our opinion the Genius series failed to do so. Neither me nor my brothers have ever spoken to the producers of this series. We agree that our mother’s life’s work should be celebrated, but with respect. “
Garrett-Owens resigned from the post just over a year ago, according to Bennett, who adds that the Genius the producers did not involve her in the production of the film. “During my client’s administration period, including before and after, we had no contribution to the creative aspects of production,” he wrote in a statement. “We don’t know what the heirs, or their representatives, or the current estate management have committed themselves to. Before and after his resignation, all the heirs of the property knew about the project and had the opportunity to consult with the producers about their concerns or to make the consultations they wished ”.
Earlier in the day, Kecalf said he was aware that there may have been a communication problem. “They kind of skipped a step and it may not have been their fault, because it may not have been communicated that there were other family members who needed to be spoken to by the former public relations [Garrett-Owens], “he says.” So, it’s a shame, but things like that happen. It’s just something to be learned. “
So far, he says the family has had a better experience working with farmers. Respect, another biographical film by Aretha Franklin, starring Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson and due out this summer. “We are actually working with MGM and … they are trying to negotiate and work with us on their film,” he says. “I can’t really talk about it because we are still in negotiations with them.”
Kecalf Franklin says he hopes to draw attention to the way films about his mother are made. “We’re just trying to make sure my mother’s integrity is intact,” says Kecalf, who said Rolling Stone to a website about the singer, JusticeForTheQueen.com. “We have to protect her and her legacy at all costs. We just want to make sure that if someone wants to do a project about our mother and grandmother, that first of all, try to get in touch with the internal family nucleus and see if we have any contributions, maybe try to work with us to see if there is anything with that we can contribute to your story. There may be some stories that we have that can contribute to your project … It’s just a matter of respect at the end of the day. “