re: Jennifer Holliday strikes again

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-jennifer12dec12,0,5329446.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews

She really seems to have no concept of how Hollywood works, or is living in some sort of dreamworld if she expects them to honor her in some way.

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I actually feel very sorry for her. It sounds like she has serious depressive issues.

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"Holliday handles her own career — no agent, no publicist, no manager."

I think she suffers from depression and also a fake sense of reality; if she had an agent, then she would be aware of the career harm she is doing to herself right now...if the gay community is her biggest audience, she needs to know that the gay community is eagerly awaiting this film.

She should take a hint from Sheryl Lee Ralph, she is playing along and I saw a picture of her in the LA Premiere (looking amazing).

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Every article I have read, every television spot anywhere on Dreamgirls mentions the talented Ms. Holliday. She is very much NOT forgotten.


It would have been nice to see them serve her up a cameo- who knows if she would have accepted it though.

Or was she offered one?

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I recall that she was offered a cameo, but she didn't take it; though it may have been SLR as Deena's mother. At any rate, while I see your point (and Ms. Holliday's to some extent), she is defeating her arguments with her senseless banter about unrealistic things she should receive.

I wonder if they have taken the rights from her sing "And I Am Telling You" while the film is in high gear? To me, if she simply said that, it would be more powerful than her current rants. I say this not as an advocate of the Hollywood system, but as a member of the general public who is not impressed with her arguments. Didn't she say something like, why should I die as an artist?

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This is ridiculous. I could barely get through that.

It's interesting that her "main source of income" has been performing And I Am Telling You... at different private events. Seems to me like she's gotten quite a lot from DREAMGIRLS.

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"Holliday said she was particularly heartbroken when friends told her that it is her version of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," the show's trademark song, that plays in one of the film's trailers. In other words, her voice is being used to sell a production that had shut her out."

I can see how that would be upsetting to her. Why not have Jennifer Hudson's version playing?

I think they only played her version during the TEASER trailer;

She may have waived her copyrights to her sound recording; and if she did not, she def. was paid for that, so either way she should not be so "heartbroken".

I also heard on the Williams interview where she felt the movie was pulling a "bait and switch" bec. they were using the Dreamgirls name and serving a new story (changes in the movie). I thought this was particularly unfair, since the owners of the rights approved all these changes to make a more compelling film.

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If they used her version of the song ILLEGALLY, then she has a case -- not a public bitching session with the media. Either sue, or stop whining.

Personal irritation aside, this whole thing strikes me as sad and desperate.

Updated On: 12/12/06 at 12:28 PM

Holliday doesn't own the rights to the OBCR. Geffen does, and it's his film.

He used the recording ONLY for the teaser trailer before Hudson was cast.

And OF COURSE they want to shake the comparisons between Holliday and Hudson as quickly as possible. And they did as soon as they had their "film Effie." They know the comparison is inevitable, and as previously said, Holliday has already been mentioned in virtually every article and review on the film so far.

They're not "sweeping her away" so much as downplaying the inevitable comparison. This is the FILM and it's HUDSON as Effie now, and that's what they are promoting... and they want to focus on it.

They haven't exactly hired hit men for Holliday.

But if you had made a film that had adapted an iconic, legendary Broadway performance, would you be quick to bring the original actress back into the limelight and say, "Look, here's a side-by-side comparison?" Not likely.

Holliday, after all these years in the business, still doesn't understand that.

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Updated On: 12/12/06 at 12:36 PM

Initially, yes, she was one of the main (if not THE main) draws to the show. She became a star overnight, and not only won the Tony for her performance, but a Grammy for the Best R&B Female of the year... for the Dreamgirls OBCR. Her name and her performances were on TV and radio.

Michael Bennett's name might have been the reason the NY crowds and theatre aficionados bought tickets initially, but it was Holliday that brought in the nationwide/worldwide audiences to see the show and turned it from a hit into a mega-hit.

But I agree that the show went on without her, and proved to have it's own "legs" to stand on.

In other words, this is a lesson that Miss Holliday should have learned some 20-odd years ago... "the show went on without her"... but apparently, this is new news to her.

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I feel bad for her in that they used her version in the early stages of the film's promotion. The fact that they used that song shows just how much that song was instrumental in selling the show and will could possibly be in selling the movie. I would assume that very soon, we are going to see more of Hudson singing that song. I have been reading the threads on this and not commenting much as I have been a bit out to lunch on it. Now I seem to remember hearing that the reason the concert version was not filmed was because David Geffen holds the rights. (Is that to the entire show? I am sure someone here knows the particulars on that!). I wonder if it was his decision to use her version in those early promos since he had a right to do so. I kind of agree that she should back off of "bashing" the filmmakers. I think she got her point across a while ago. I find it interesting that Ms. Ralph has come forward and said that she also has been "snubbed". I also find it interesting that the film studio is not commenting. This makes me think that there are possibly things we don't know. Either they actually did snub these two ladies or they made an offer to Ms. Holliday and she refused or, as it has been reported about her, was difficult and they decided not to work with her. In the words of an old Ashford & Simpson song "Nobody knows the inside"! (Except those involved, of course) But in the case of this movie and this song, it is hers. Hands down. Her deliverence of this song is what drew people to the show and even had people going after she left. We do showtunes at the bar I go to on Monday nights. The most requested song is Ms. Holliday doing "And I Am Telling You" from the My Favorite Broadway DVD. I hope she gets over this and moves on. She is a talented woman. And I do agree that she has some "personal issues" after reading these interviews. In my opinion, her best bet is to get off of the Dreamgirls bashing wagon immediately. Especially before the movie comes out because I would suspect that when moviegoers see the movie and hear Ms. Hudson, the comparisons between her performance and Ms. Holliday's are going to be made. And that's when Ms. Holliday could come back into the spotlight. At which point she should do it more graciously than she has been in the past few months. In any case, I see a preview of the movie next Thursday and can't wait! Just my thoughts and ramlings!

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Updated On: 12/12/06 at 12:50 PM

I'm paraphrasing here but Bill Condon had replied that just because someone makes his mark playing Hamlet 25 years ago, a new production doesn't necessarily need to recognize that actor when recreating that character later on. For crying out loud, Ms. Holliday was hoping she would play Effie in the movie! Also, he did not want the movie to become a "Spot the Dreamgirl" game which would be too distracting and take you away from the film. Loretta Devine is in the movie bec. she's appropriate for the scene she's in. Ms. Holliday's voice in that scene would be out of place.