Tyrese Gibson took to social media to address reports that his production company, Voltron Entertainment, is suing Joan Pendergrass, the widow of legendary soul singer Teddy Pendergrass, over the rights to the late singer’s biopic.
Voltron Entertainment is currently embroiled in a legal battle with Joan, alleging she walked back on their 2011 agreement to hand over the rights to the late musician’s legacy. Voltron claims it has already spent $450,000 on the project, which includes a book and film.
Gibson is seeking $1 million in damages.
On social media, Gibson faced some backlash, but he shared his side of the story in a defiant Instagram post.
“Sadly things had to come to this….This has been 13 years in the making this man embraced me when he was on this earth and shared to me “No one can play me in my biopic but you Tyrese I’m sure of it” -TP”
He continued, “Hearing those words coming from him as one could imagine put me in under an unbearable amount of pressure but I knew that I was BORN to play Teddy Pendergrass The first person I called was my mother RIP and shared the news she’s SCREAMED!!!! My mother was the BIGGEST TEDDY PENDERGRASS FAN ON EARTH! She couldn’t believe it….There is nothing more uncomfortable than trying to create magic with inexperienced creatives!”
Tyrese added, “I owe it to my mother and Teddy to get this done!! Teddy Movie will happen!…@LeeDaniels, Charlie Mack aka @charliemackfirstout who drove me to Teddy’s home where the journey first began! I love you both and I am forever indebted to you both and Warner Brothers for being so passionately committed to the legacy and STORY!…I hate that things had to come to this but God knows my HEART! I,Tyrese Gibson was born to play TEDDY!”
In an interview published earlier this year, film producer Charlie Mack weighed in on the project’s legal woes.
“It’s kind of a rough time,” Mack told Sister 2 Sister magazine. “I’m trying to stay as neutral as possible. We had a great relationship with Teddy and Joan, but there’s conflict between Teddy Jr. and Teddy’s widow, Joan.”
“It’s the role of Tyrese’s life,” he added. “It’s what Ray did for Jamie [Foxx] and Ali did for Will [Smith]. Teddy wrapped his arms around [Tyrese]. [Pendergrass’] mom and many others said, ‘Tyrese needs to play him [Pendergrass].'”
Pendergrass’ widow has not publicly addressed the lawsuit.
