Last week, there was tension in the air between actress Zoe Saldana and the late, great Nina Simone's family, who are not pleased with Saldana's portrayal of her in new biopic 'Nina'.
Saldana had tweeted a Simone quote after the trailer for the film has premiered, and the response was withering, to say the least:
.@zoesaldana Cool story but please take Nina's name out your mouth. For the rest of your life.
— Nina Simone (@NinaSimoneMusic) March 3, 2016
Now, Simone's daughter Lisa Simone Kelly has responded to the furore, saying that although she was not happy with the film, she did not blame Saldana for it - and that it was a family friend who was responsible for the tweet.
"It's unfortunate that Zoe Saldana is being attacked so viciously when she is someone who is part of a larger picture," she told Time. "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."
She added: "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."
Much of the controversy stems from the fact that Saldana blackened her skin tone with make-up and wore prosthetics to appear more like the jazz great, along with the alleged inconsistencies in her story.
