There’s one in every family, the black sheep that ruffles everyone’s feathers, and, at any minute, can blow and expose all the dirty family secrets. In the pattern of La Toya Jackson, Ky-Mani Marley, son of the late Rastafarian phenom, Bob Marley, is poised to out his legendary father and the rest of the family in his explosive tell-all memoir.
The book, Dear Dad: “Where’s The Family In Our Family, Today? The Story the Marley Family Apparently Doesn’t Want You to Know, is due in stores Feb. 6, on Bob Marley’s 65th birthday. “Happy birthday, dad! I’m going to tarnish your sterling image!” The family, of course, is not pleased.
The Marleys are so outraged over the publishing of the memoir, they lodged a campaign of intimidation against Ky-Mani Marley, unless the thus far forsaken and ostracized son of Bob Marley rewrites the truth and omits the sometimes harsh realities of his being excluded from the Marley family’s affairs and events, and of intentionally being denied the love and attention enjoyed by the other children. They also demand that he confirm and showcase such distortions during his interviews and the book tour.
Ky-Mani’s publisher, Dr. Farrah Gray, defends the memoir and the author’s right to disclose and describe the story of his life, even if it exposes situations and episodes the Marley estate prefers not to reveal. Gray’s position is based on his personal commitment to the truth and is also grounded in law. Legal authorities confirm the publisher’s right to pursue a claim of “tortious interference” — a civil action that could possibly deem the Marley estate liable for damages caused by its threats to Marley’s son. Injunctive relief is also being considered.
“Family politics can be a straight b—h. It can flow deep. And it can cut deep. You have to understand what I’m calling family politics. It was family politics that gave me all of the growing-up experiences I have detailed in this book,” said Ky-Mani Marley.
Dear Dad, published by Farrah Gray Publishing, is a biographical account of a son, Ky-Mani, who was locked out of his iconic father’s shelter after his death, and forced to survive poverty and run-ins with the street-predators of Miami’s violent ghetto. Ky-Mani grew up estranged from his siblings, and also cut out of any financial gain by Marley’s widow and manager of the Marley estate. The narrative chronicles young Ky-Mani’s gritty ascent from a bullet-riddled life to the world stages he now traverses as a musical artist.
Bob Marley’s estate has generated as much as $600 million; now, Ky-mani, Marley’s 10th child and the one who bears the closest resemblance to the patriarch, wants his piece of the pie. –gerald radford
