LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Joan Pendergrass, widow of the late Grammy Award-winning R&B singer Teddy Pendergrass, is being sued by Voltron Entertainment, the production company owned by singer-actor Tyrese Gibson, over the rights to her husband's biopic.
Tyrese claims that his company had locked up the exclusive rights to Teddy's life story way back in 2011, with Joan's blessing, reports TMZ.
He claims that Joan was supposed to give him the rights to a book and movie about Teddy in exchange for his company agreeing to invest in the projects and use his celeb status to promote them and Teddy's legacy.
Why is Tyrese Gibson suing Joan Pendergrass?
In the suit, Tyrese stated that he has been pushing the project forward for nearly a decade, and along with Voltron, has since invested around $450,000 in it.
The problem is, according to Tyrese, Joan reneged on the agreement in 2022 and refused to extend the option on the rights to Teddy's life story.
This turnaround of Joan made Voltron suffer financial setbacks. Thus Tyrese is now suing Joan in her individual capacity and as executor of the late singer's estate for at least $1 million in damages.
Tyrese Gibson's Instagram post on the biopic
In a long Instagram post, Tyrese said that the late singer himself wanted Tyrese to play him in his biopic.
"This has been 13 years+ years in the makin 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 wrote.
"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 post continued.
Tyrese stated in the post that his mother was a huge fan of Teddy Pendergrass, and that he owes it to both her and the late singer to get the movie made.
"I’m very very sure this will all be figured out… Everyone in Hollywood will tell you bio-pics are some of the MOST challenging films to try and make because there are so many “Narratives” and nuances that go into creating magic…. Really no surprises here… I owe it to my mother and Teddy to get this done!! Whatever it takes this Teddy Movie will happen."
