With the success of Freddie Mercury and Elton John's bopics in the past few years, Hollywood has been quick to produce more. Marvin Gaye and Bernie Mac's biopics remain on the way, however jazz legend Thelonious Monk's long-awaited biopic- detailing his struggles in the music industry and his own personal life- has hit a roadblock.
It seems his estate may stop the production of the Thelonioius, spearheaded by Jupiter Rising Film, over disputes about the quality and integrity of the film and script. It only took a day for star of Thelonious, musician Yasiin Bey (AKA Mos Def), to make a statement about the family's attack on the biopic.
In an Instagram post this morning, Bey showed support for the family and admits he was lied to about the family's permission when he signed on as the lead.
Yasiin Bey Responds To Thelonious Monk Biopic Controversy ">Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Thelonious Monk Institute
"To be clear, I was given every indication by the production company that the family was on board,” Bey said as he implicated Jupiter Rising Films as being dishonest. “That was one of my primary questions. … I took them at their word and clearly that wasn’t the case." It seems the family's approval was important to the actor, yet Jupiter Films Rising withheld the proper information.
Still, Bey has hope that he can be involved in a future, more inclusive production: "I wanna show love and respect to him and to his family and to his estate and say that I stand with you," he said, while offering that he would be "super excited" to work on a film in accordance with the family.
T.S. Monk, the son of the jazz icon, initially blasted the film yesterday in an email to Pitchfork: "There is no involvement by anyone in the Monk family with this project, and we actually condemn the effort."
Check out the IGTV video from Yasiin Bey below.