During her time as Attorney General, Kamala Harris-now Vice President apparently barred Nina Simone’s family from accessing the late singer’s estate.
Nina’s daughter and granddaughter Lisa Simone Kelly and RéAnna Simone Kelly say that Harris decided how Nina’s estate would be managed and who would manage it, TMZ reported.
The chaos started after RéAnna praised Chloe Bailey’s recent rendition of Nina’s “Feeling Good.” Bailey put out the performance as a way of celebrating Juneteenth, but it didn’t go over too well due to some seeing it as over-sexualized.
That is when RéAnna came to her defense by saying, “Everyone’s coming at @ChloeBailey for her performance of my grandmother Nina Simone’s song “Feeling Good.” She added, “But what y’all don’t understand is that grandma was a free spirited woman herself!! She would’ve loved that performance as much as I do! Relax. Chloe killed it. #NinaSimone”
But of course, people came for RéAnna in the comments section, with one Twitter user asking her why an account was created for her grandmother, who passed away in 2003. From there, things went south.
RéAnna responded by saying, “Nina’s granddaughter here. My family doesn’t run her estate anymore. It was taken away from us & given to white people. Our family name was DRAGGED in the media. We get NO royalties, nothing. Wanna hold someone accountable?Ask Kamala Harris why she came for my family #NinaSimone.”
The granddaughter blames Harris for barring her family from accessing Nina’s estate and the rights to her image/likeliness, royalties, creative decisions with the IP, and everything else.
She then accused Kamala and co. of giving all those powers to “white people.” Kamala’s decision has made her feel like her heritage and ties to her grandmother have disappeared.
RéAnna’s mother, Lisa, was an appointed administrator of her mother Nina’s estate at first, but some time later, she was accused of misappropriating the funds that were put in place for the estate and a charity in Nina’s name, which is why Kamala’s office got involved.
A settlement was eventually reached, which is what RéAnna is speaking out on now. Lisa was prohibited from associating herself with Nina in any capacity. There was also a de facto gag order forbidding her from speaking on her mother.
It remains unclear who is controlling Ms. Simone’s estate now, but the family alleges it was left in “shambles.”
https://twitter.com/reasiimone/status/1406139886369873926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1406139886369873926%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tmz.com%2F2021%2F06%2F19%2Fnina-simone-family-kamala-harris-estate-attorney-general%2F
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