John Singleton has clapped back at critics decrying his telling of events based on the life of Tupac Shakur in a 2014 screenplay draft of All Eyez On Me. Over the weekend the celebrated director set his aim on those rebuking his inclusion of a scene that makes inference to the rapper getting raped at the hands of inmates, during his 1995 prison stint on charges related to a sexual assault he was alleged to have taken part in.
"Real talk... Why are all y'all folks so concerned with what was in a script that didn't get made? That was worked on with Afeni Shakur?" Singleton asked, setting off a rant in which he goes on to deflect attention onto producer L.T. Hutton for producing a story of Pac that he believes dishonors the rapper's legacy. Singleton and Hutton have been trading shots since the film's makers decided they'd proceed towards putting it in theaters, despite alleged disagreements Afeni Shakur had with the making of the project leading up to her death. While Singleton originally stated that his decision to decline an opportunity to direct the film had to do with creative differences, he has since implied that the project was born out of deceit and disregard for Pac's mother. Meanwhile, Hutton has consistently countered that Singleton is simply bitter that he didn't get to make the film he wanted to see get done; a film which according to Hutton, bore a scene of Afeni engaging in a sexual affair with a woman, in addition to the rape scene.
"Y'all on social media running your mouth about a movie that wasn't even made and giving passes to folks who actually MADE a movie and didn't honor this man's legacy; keep that talk on social media.... But I'm real out here in what I do ALWAYS ... Y'all can see it in anything my name is on.... and that's why I didn't make the movie," Singleton continued on to write.
Both Hutton and Singleton have been blasted by parties close to Tupac, for their depiction of him in their work. Jada Pinkett Smith has publicly expressed her discontent with the film's revision of facts in an effort to sensationalize her friendship with Pac. Singleton, on the other hand, has gotten an earful from the likes of Daz Dillinger, who produced part of the All Eyez On Me album, and contends that Tupac would have taken serious issue with Singleton's version of events were he alive today.
Source: instagram.com
