NewspaperUS A User-friendly News page for the Modern World
Lisa Marie Presley was not happy about the depiction of her father in Sofia Coppola’s new film Priscilla.
In leaked emails obtained by Variety, the late singer-songwriter condemned the Oscar-winning director’s “shockingly vengeful and contemptuous” depiction of her father in early versions of the script for Priscilla.
The biopic is based on the 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, written by Lisa Marie’s mother Priscilla Presley, and has sparked conversation around her controversial courtship with The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll when she was 14 and he was 24.
In one of the two emails allegedly sent on September 2, 2022, the Lights Out songstress declared neither she nor her mother “see any of [her] father” in the “predatory” and “manipulative” depiction.
Instead, she expressed, “I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why?”
Considering the scrutiny it would bring on her surviving three children who were still grieving the loss of their brother Benjamin Keough to suicide, the concerned mother further warned, “I will be forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film and go against you, my mother and this film publicly.”
Coppola did not cave, but sent an email back expressing hope that Lisa Marie might change her mind once she sees the final film.
But Lisa Marie would never get to see the biographical drama released a few weeks ago, as she passed away from a cardiac arrest in January 2023.
Despite her pleading emails, production began just a few weeks later, and the real-life Priscilla, who Lisa felt was being “manipulated” by filmmakers per Page Six, is credited was an executive producer for the film.
