Nina Simone’s Daughter & Brother Speak Out On New Biopic

Zoe Saldana has been met with much criticism after taking on the role of Nina Simone back in 2011. When the film’s trailer was finally released this week showing Zoe’s skin severely darkened with makeup and wearing a prosthetic nose, everyone shared their own opinion. Nina Simone’s estate set Twitter ablaze when they sent out a warning to Saldana. “@zoesaldana Cool story but please take Nina’s name out your mouth. For the rest of your life,” the account tweeted. “Hopefully people begin to understand this is painful. Gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, nauseating, soul-crushing. It shall pass, but for now…”

A lot of backlash comes from the fact that rather than casting a dark skinned actress to take on the role of Nina, Zoe, a lighter skinned woman, was changed drastically to fit the part. Many look back at Nina Simone’s activism and the colorism she experienced and can’t help as to look at the casting choice as a slap in the face to Nina’s legacy. 

Nina’s brother, Sam Waymon, is one of those that opposes Saldana in the role of Simone. He tells TMZ that Nina would blanch at the studio’s choice of Zoe Saldana and that “painting up” the actress is insulting and “raping Nina’s legacy.”

Nina Simone’s only child, Lisa Simone Kelly, shared her views on Zoe Saldana and the tweet that came from Nina Simone’s official Twitter account.

While Nina’s daughter still expresses displeasure with the unauthorized biopic and its depiction of events, she doesn’t place sole responsibility on Zoe. “It’s unfortunate that Zoe Saldana is being attacked so viciously when she is someone who is part of a larger picture,” says Kelly, who was initially unaware that the tweet went out. “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.”

The Nina Simone official Twitter account is run by Aaron Overfield, a family friend. He also oversees Nina’s website and Facebook.  Nina’s daughter has been against the film since the beginning. Her yearning to properly tell her mother’s story prompted her to get behind the documentary, “What Happened, Miss Simone?” You can currently find it on Netflix.