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Female stories arent relevant enough, especially a Black female story […] I made a choice.
And I wonder, what is your relationship with that choice now?
Saldana responds with a long and passionate apology:
I should have never played Nina.
I thought back then that I had the permission, because I was a Black woman.
But it was Nina Simone.
Because she was a specifically detailed individual.
About her voice, her views, her music, her opinions, and her art.
And she was so honest.
So she deserved better.
And with that said, so Im sorry, Im so sorry, because I love her music.
Shes one of our giants.
Somebody else should step up.
Somebody else should tell her story because shes one of those people that … Nina Simone!
Her story hasnt been, like, a global fucking impact.
And America deserves it.
Because the Americans that inhabit todays America deserve her story to be told.
And I know better today, and Im never going to do that again.
Im still processing it.
Ive been processing it for ten years, and I think its a conversation that I wanna have.
Im not gonna allow people to violate me, to make me feel less than.
For fucks sake, its about time.
