It was announced last week that Zoe Saldana had scored the lead in a biopic of legendary music incon Nina Simone (taking over from the long attached May J Blige), opposite David Oyelowo as her nurse turned manager, Clifton Henderson. The screenplay is said to focus on an affair between the two of them, looking at the last years of Simone’s life before she died of cancer in 2003.
However Nina’s daughter, Lisa Celeste Stroud (who uses the stage name Simone), has hit out at some inaccuracies in the script and also wants to point out it’s completely authorised. One of the main things she wants to say is that while the film apparently paints the relationship between Henderson and Simone as a great romance, in reality he was gay.
In a Facebook post Lisa says, ‘When the announcement initially hit the press with MJ Blige cast as Nina (about 6 yrs ago) I heard it along with everyone else. The story was written as a love story between my mother and her former nurse, Clifton Henderson and primarily takes place during the last 8 years of her life. Please note, this project is unauthorized. The Nina Simone Estate was never asked permission nor invited to participate. …
Clifton Henderson was gay. He was not attracted to women. So, the truth is…Nina Simone and Clifton Henderson NEVER had a relationship other than a business one. Please correct me, but isn’t a biopic the story of one’s life? …
For all she endured while here and all of the lives she has touched, she DESERVES to be remembered for who she truly was; not some made up love story from a former nurse/manager (now deceased) who sold his life rights because of his relationship to Nina Simone.’
It’s not clear whether Lisa has read the latest versions of the script, although this does sound like just the sort of thing Hollywood would do, feeling the life of an incredible American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist isn’t good enough unless they can tack a love story on – and as the life rights they own are Henderson’s, that’s who’ll have to be in love with her. Hopefully this will turn out to be false and if Henderson was indeed gay, that’ll be reflected in the movie, but we’ll have to wait and see.
(Thanks to The Advocate for the heads up)
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