Benny Boom Fires Back at John Singleton After ‘All Eyez On Me’ Criticism: ‘John Just Can’t Let It Go’
The Tupac Shakur biopic, All Eyez on Me, is finally set to open on June 16 but the film which has been in the works since 2011 has not been without its share of criticism.
In 2014, John Singleton signed on to direct the film but by 2015, Singleton was out as the director, claiming that the people involved with the film were not “respectful” of Tupac’s legacy. Following Singleton’s departure, director Benny Boom signed on and is now responding to Singleton’s criticism.
During an appearance on Hot 97’s Ebro in the Morning show, the director was asked about Singleton’s comments.
“It’s unfortunate that John took that position," he responded. "There’s a lot of directors taken off projects in Hollywood. It happens. They sign on to movie… [there’s] creative differences… then the directors go on and they do something else. The unfortunate thing is that John just can’t let it go.”
The director also revealed he personally called Singleton and tried to get everything straightened out. “I know John. So I called him and spoke to him… he had a point of view that I did not agree with, in terms of why he said what he said.”
He continued, “I’m like ‘look, whatever issues you have with the producers you got to put that to the side now because this is my movie now.’ If I went around and came up here and started bashing one of his films without saying his name all you guys would have looked at me like ‘you’re hating on John.’”
Benny Boom also brought up the fact that towards the end of Shakur’s life, the rapper wasn’t a fan of Singleton. In leaked audio footage, Tupac could be heard calling Singleton “a coward.” The two previously worked together on the film Poetic Justice.