Justin Baldoni and the noise around him it ends with us The alleged feud with costar Blake Lively is not over yet as yet another controversial report has embroiled the actor-director in a new controversy.
Much like the 40-year-old Hollywood star’s Wayfarer Studios, which he co-founded with billionaire Steve Sarowitz, currently owns the rights to Colleen Hoover’s controversial novel and its sequel, the independent studio has reportedly teamed up with former NBA star Craig Hodges. Have also made a deal. , Chasing the wave of success garnered by the hit ESPN series the last Dance Enlisting his former teammate Michael Jordan, Baldoni’s production house sought to bring to life the words on the pages of Hodges’ book ‘Long Shot: The Triumphs and Struggles of an NBA Freedom Fighter’.
Although the market of rumors has spread all kinds of stories around it ends with us The drama, with its undeniable commercial success on the silver screen, has already set a precedent for itself, thanks to the source material provided by Colleen Hoover’s book. Conversely, as reported by Deadline, the Chicago Bulls alumnus’ documentary project hit an irreparable halt after Wayfarer pulled the plug on it last year. Since then, Hodges has been feuding with Baldoni’s company over documentary rights.
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The origins of NBA star Craig Hodges vs. Justin Baldoni’s Wayfarer Studio
The issue goes beyond Hollywood money and involves race and basketball. History appears to be unpleasantly repeating itself, as the three-point specialist’s contractual clash with Wayfarer has prevented him from bringing his vision from the pages of his 2017 book to life. The project (working titles: ‘The Lost Dance’ and ‘Whiteballed’) initially formed a partnership between Hodges and British-Indian producer GV Singh. Baldoni’s production company eventually decided to finance it.
Meanwhile, creative differences grew in the background between the former NBA player and Wayfarer. Hodges confessed to Deadline that while GV Singh was determined to do justice to his book, “with an accurate depiction of the time frame involved in the material,” Wayfarer set out to “dress Craig Hodges in a tasteful way.” “Started a debate that the NBA will accept.” In his book, the sports star claims he was blackballed from the men’s basketball league in the early 1990s because he used his platform to seek justice. He also criticized his fellow black athletes who “failed to use their considerable wealth and influence to aid the poor and disenfranchised.” Therefore, his experience and the “gist” of the book differed from Wayfarer’s stated interest.
Justin Baldoni’s company reportedly not interested in maintaining the originality of Craig Hodges’ story
Hodges then directly referenced Justin Baldoni, saying that he was more focused on chasing the hype established by the mini-documentary depicting the rise of Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. “Wayfarer never seemed to have any interest in that version of the story. Justin Baldoni was certainly interested in virtue signaling and propagation the last Dance, But there’s little interest in the actual weight of responsibility that comes with accurately portraying the realities of being a black man in America.
Much of the talk, driven by racial credibility, targeted Singh’s position in the effort because Baldoni and Wayfarer CEO Jamie Heath, a fellow black man, were eyeing Kirk Fraser, a black director, to helm the project.
The media outlet reviewed a Zoom call in which Wayfarer executives tried their best to convince Singh to run. “I promise you, no one knows as much as you feel [Hodges’ life] Better, no one knows it better than me. I’m their age, I’ve experienced it and been through it. You may be an amazing filmmaker, but the story is such that you may have some blind spots,” Heath told Singh on the call.
Singh gave a valid reply, “We’ll all have our own subjective view, Jamie, but I asked you to clarify those nuances and you told me not to, and I thought it was a little disingenuous rather than clarifying.” Allowing them to grow and understand me and me, you said to me ‘Givi, if you had experienced this, you would not have needed to ask this question.’ To me, it felt like confusion, rather than you trying to tell me and explain what I was missing. “I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want to do that.”
Justin Baldoni also presented his side. The It End’s With Us insider previously criticized her in a Daily Mail interview for her demonstrative “woke feminism” on the set of the Sony film. Sharing Heath’s belief that someone who is not a black American cannot accurately depict the black experience in America, Baldoni said, “Racism in America… is so unique to America that most people cannot properly describe it. Don’t understand. So, when Jamie, as a black person, tells you, as a non-black person, if you had experienced it, you wouldn’t have to ask that question. This is coming from 50 years of pain and racism, when he was seven he was thrown out of a swimming pool and the white people had to vacate the pool because a black person touched him. It comes from a place you don’t know.”
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He added, “We, people who are not black, can never force black people to tell us and teach us… This is a very important point about why it is unique to America, the director Why does it need to be black, I believe, and from America.
Money issues join the chat
Kirk Fraser, who was top on Wayfarer’s list to direct the project, jumped ship as a result because he did not want to be embroiled in any controversy. Ultimately, the rule came into the hands of Singh. It is believed that he has completed shooting the rough cut of the documentary film. However, its content has now been devalued as a cog in the machine as the fierce battle for the film rights has become the sole controversial focus.
The difficulties were made worse as Baldoni’s company reportedly invested approximately $1.1 million in the film, covering Hodges and other expenses for the production. Considering the NBA alumnus and Singh somehow sold the project to another buyer, Wayfarer is demanding $50,000 upfront and $125,000 to release the rights. However, both are against it and say that they do not have to pay the company under the existing contract, the creative control is in their hands. Singh’s IFF Content banner, which Hodges originally hoped would direct and produce the film, has issued a termination order to Baldoni’s agency, but it faces another uphill battle.
“When Wayfarer offered to sell us the rights back for $50,000 plus a $125,000 add-on, in our view, they were contractually asking us to pay for something we already owned . I believe they knew that the ongoing dispute would make it impossible to involve a third party to help fund and complete the project,” Singh told the outlet.
The NBA star and the British-Indian producer are still on the same issue
On the other hand, Craig Hodges’ end game is here to see the project see the light of day, as he strongly hopes that Baldoni’s company will “step aside and renounce any and all claims to the film.” From day one, his thoughts and intentions seem to be in line with GV Singh’s views. He acknowledges that Singh’s film is “an honest and fair representation of the events and what happened to me.”
