Cynthia Erivo will play the legendary Queen of Soul while Courtney B. Vance will play her father C.L. Franklin in the miniseries. T.I. will star in the biopic as well as Ken Cunningham, Kecalf’s father. Kecalf Cunningham also made it clear that they don’t have any animosity towards the actors in the series and that their issues were with the producers of the project.
Suzan Lori Parks, executive producer of the miniseries, released a statement in response to the backlash and expressed that they gave Aretha Franklin her respect in the series.
“As the showrunner of ‘Genius: Aretha’, I can tell you that every single day — and twice on Sunday — through COVID, social unrest, and every other challenge we faced, our intention was to respect Ms. Franklin in every aspect of our show and in every decision we made. As ‘The Queen,’ she is deserving of every single celebration of her life that the world can muster. We worked with many people who knew Ms. Franklin — from Clive Davis to representatives of her family’s estate — to make sure we told her story in an honest and authentic way.”
While the drama unfolds, check out the trailer below for “Genius: Aretha.”
