- 7 weeks ago
Sometimes, the truth hurts... especially when it's misrepresented on the big screen! Join us as we look at actors who brought real-life figures to the silver screen, only for the actual individuals to vehemently dislike their portrayals. From tech titans to music legends and sports heroes, these biopics stirred up controversy and anger, with the subjects calling out everything from inaccurate motivations to outright fictional events. Get ready for some serious cinematic clapbacks!
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I'm playing my team in a way that I can explain job interviews next winter, okay?
00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at 10 performances in biopics that were fiercely
00:12criticized by the real person. Where were you taking him, Mike? To the bus. It was time for
00:19him to go home. Mark Zuckerberg, The Social Network. You have part of my attention, you have
00:26the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues
00:31and I are doing things that no one in this room, including and especially your clients, are
00:34intellectually or creatively capable of doing. The founder of Facebook gave a big thumbs down to his
00:40cinematic origin story. While Jesse Eisenberg's rapid-fire performance earned him an Oscar
00:45nomination, the real Mark Zuckerberg wasn't exactly clicking the like button. While he admitted that
00:50the wardrobe department nailed his don't care, fleece, and flip-flops aesthetic, he fundamentally
00:55disagreed with the entire film's premise. The movie seems to imply that Zuckerberg built
01:07the site to get into exclusive clubs and meet girls, a motivation that the real CEO called
01:12purely fictional. Zuckerberg notes that he's been with the same partner since before Facebook even
01:17began, and that being popular or liked had nothing to do with its creation. Jesse Eisenberg's Mark is
01:23mostly Aaron Sorkin's creation, a character with wholly inaccurate motivations and personality
01:29traits. I think we should just be friends. I don't want friends. I was just being polite. I have no
01:34intention of being friends. Ike Turner. What's love got to do with it? You high, you embarrassed me.
01:39Oh, come on now. Who be my? See that white man that's gonna open the mouth, she's saying all goddamn
01:44day long. I actually ain't gonna say nothing now. Come on now, I'm asking you a nice thing. And I'm saying
01:50no nice. Ike Turner is one of music's most notorious villains, largely due to Lawrence Fishburne's
01:56terrifying performance in this biopic. But the real Ike went to his grave denying the film's accuracy.
02:02He absolutely loathed the movie, claiming it was a work of total fiction designed to demonize him,
02:08while he did admit to hitting Tina and praised Fishburne's performance. He vehemently denied the
02:13brutal assaults that are depicted in the film. He also argued the film erased his contribution to
02:28rock and roll history, reducing him to a one-dimensional monster. Turner spent the rest
02:33of his life campaigning against the film's narrative, even writing his own autobiography
02:37to set the record straight. For Ike, this wasn't a biopic. It was a hit piece that destroyed
02:42his life. People keep asking me about where my boy I'm hiding my investments. Only investments
02:46I got, she done destroyed. I can see the Turner review, that was my investment. I can't destroy
02:50that. I can't display all the dates out of the book. People are mad at me all over the country.
02:53Uh, $750,000, she done cost me. What I got left, I got, I got, I got, I got some clothes,
02:58I got some jewelry. Uh, uh, the rest I got tied up in investments. I ain't got nothing else.
03:02Steve Wozniak, Jobs. Something's happened to you, Steve.
03:09You're growing up, Woz. No. No, you're not. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is usually a jolly
03:20guy, but he didn't have any smiles for this Ashton Kutcher biopic. Wozniak publicly tore the script
03:26apart, calling it crap and stating that the interactions between him and Steve Jobs were
03:31complete fabrications. He particularly hated a scene where Jobs has a sudden epiphany about the
03:36future of computers, noting that in reality, the ideas were a collaborative grind, not a magical
03:42moment for Jobs. Computers are inherently designed to make your lives easier. Theoretically, there's
03:48no limit to what computers can do. In general, Wozniak felt that the film glorified Jobs as a singular
03:54genius while grossly misrepresenting the actual business and disregarding the role that Wozniak
03:59played. That said, he later worked as a consultant on Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs just a few years
04:05later. So, you know, if you want a more accurate representation, check that one out instead.
04:10Much better movie, too.
04:11I built the circuit board. The graphical interface was stolen from Xerox PARC. Jeff Raskin was the
04:17leader of the Mac team before you threw him off his own project. Someone else designed the box.
04:22So how come 10 times in a day, I read Steve Jobs as a genius?
04:26David Letterman, The Late Shift
04:29Good lord. How could a television show be worth this much embarrassment?
04:33Usually, when a celebrity hates a biopic, they issue a press release. When David Letterman hates
04:38a biopic, he turns it into a comedy segment. Letterman was depicted in this HBO movie about
04:43the late night wars by actor John Michael Higgins. The real Letterman felt the performance was a
04:48caricature, famously saying that the actor looked like, quote, a budding psychopath. He also humorously
04:54called the movie, quote, the biggest waste of film since my wedding photos.
05:07Letterman's disdain was so specific that he actually booked Higgins as a guest on the late
05:11show. But rather than confronting the actor face-to-face, Letterman intentionally let the
05:15show run long, thereby leaving Higgins in the green room. It was a passive-aggressive power move
05:20that made it clear. He thought the casting was a joke, and he wasn't laughing.
05:24Letterman, we are just going from one bizarre circumstance to the next.
05:29Lil' Kim, Notorious.
05:31Notorious B.I.T. presents Junior Boxster featuring Lil' Kim!
05:37When you come for the Queen Bee, you'd best not miss. Unfortunately, Lil' Kim felt that this
05:43Biggie Smalls biopic missed by a mile. Portrayed by Noturi Naughton, Kim was absolutely furious about
05:49her portrayal, feeling that the script reduced her role in rap history to nothing more than a side
05:54piece. She publicly slammed the casting, stating that Naughton looked nothing like her, and called
06:00out the production team for not consulting her in order to ensure accuracy.
06:04You're looking damn good. How's work today?
06:07Every day you ask me how I'm doing. What's that about?
06:10It's because I care. Know what I'm saying?
06:13Yeah, right. Whatever you say, big papa.
06:16She also refused to support the release, noting that while she loved Biggie, the movie
06:20was nothing more than a press release designed to make others look good at her expense.
06:25For Kim, it wasn't a tribute. It was a cheap shot that prioritized sensational drama over
06:30authenticity.
06:31In my hand, you better understand Lil' Kim be the best bitch in Brooklyn.
06:36Jada Pinkett Smith, All Eyes on Me.
06:39We're gonna be friends forever. You and me. It's all good.
06:43It's one thing to get facts wrong. It's another thing to just straight up invent emotional moments
06:48that never happened. Jada Pinkett Smith didn't pull punches when she saw this Tupac Shakur
06:53biopic. Taking to Twitter, she dismantled the film scene by scene. Among other problems,
06:58she pointed out that Tupac never read her a poem, they never had a dramatic backstage argument,
07:03and that the film's general reimagining of their relationship was, quote,
07:07deeply hurtful.
07:08You are my heart and uniform. A friend I can never replace.
07:19Mama's a high.
07:24You haven't even moved to California yet. You're already going soft on me.
07:28While she praised the actors for trying, she tore the filmmakers apart for exploiting her bond
07:32with the late rapper. For Smith, the inaccuracies weren't just annoying. They were a manipulative
07:37dishonor to the memory of her late best friend. It was a scorched earth rejection that left no doubt
07:43about her feelings.
07:44It's here's Flo, and I'm here so.
07:50I'm gonna miss you.
07:52Patch Adams.
07:53Why can't we treat death with a certain amount of humanity and dignity and decency and,
07:57God forbid, maybe even humor?
07:58Death is not the enemy, gentlemen. If we're going to fight a disease,
08:03let's fight one of the most terrible diseases of all, indifference.
08:06Robin Williams gave it his all, but the real Patch Adams wasn't charmed. The physician and
08:11activist felt that the schmaltzy film took his lifelong struggle to revolutionize healthcare
08:15and reduced it to a tearjerker comedy about a goofy doctor wearing a red nose. Adams has famously
08:21stated that he hates the movie, arguing that it simplified his intellectual work into Williams-esque
08:26slapstick and gross sentimentality.
08:29Patients are opening up to me, Corinne. They're sharing their dreams, their fantasies.
08:33And if you're here on the right topic, they brighten up for one brief moment.
08:37Basically, this was Robin Williams in a doctor's jacket, not Patch Adams.
08:41While audiences laughed and cried their eyes out around him, the real Patch was just left shaking
08:47his head in disappointment at the gross misrepresentation of his serious medical philosophy.
08:53Not to mention his entire life's work. Just saying, we're pretty sure
08:56the real doctor never built a giant entryway out of a woman's splayed lower half.
09:01Welcome, cold-handed ones. It's an honor to greet slash welcome so many who have touched
09:08so many women in such a powerful way. Come on in. Watch out. It's a little slippery.
09:15Art Howe. Moneyball.
09:17Payne is not only the best first baseman on the roster, he's the only first baseman on the roster.
09:22Patty gets on base more than Payne. In fact, 20% more.
09:26And his fielding?
09:27His fielding does not matter.
09:29In Hollywood, every hero needs a villain. Unfortunately for Oakland A's manager, Art Howe,
09:35he became the bad guy in Bennett Miller's Moneyball. Portrayed by Philip Seymour Hoffman
09:40as a stubborn and paunchy obstacle who refused to use statistics,
09:44the real Howe was incensed at his portrayal. He called the performance, quote,
09:48character assassination, pointing out that he never refused to play the players that Billy
09:52Bean wanted. He simply managed the team the best way he knew Howe.
09:56You can't start paying you first tonight. You'll have to start Hatterberg.
10:01I don't want to go 15 rounds, Billy. The lineup card is mine, and that's all.
10:06He argued that the film actively damaged his legacy in Major League Baseball,
10:10painting him as a selfish obstructionist rather than a professional trying to win games.
10:16While Brad Pitt got all the glory, Howe felt he was sacrificed for the narrative,
10:21claiming the movie unjustly disparaged a lifetime of hard work.
10:24You're killing this team.
10:27Art, I can do this all day long.
10:30Michael Orr, The Blind Side.
10:32I think that's what the writer was saying, that you should hope for courage and try for honor.
10:38And maybe even pray that the people telling you what to do have some too.
10:43Sandra Bullock won an Oscar as Leanne Toohey, but the subject, NFL tackle,
10:48Michael Orr, feels the movie was a central part of a massive betrayal.
10:52Orr has always disliked the film's depiction of him as mentally slow and unskilled,
10:57arguing that it caused NFL officials to undervalue his actual skills and leadership.
11:01I know I should have asked you this a long time ago, Michael.
11:06Do you even want to play football?
11:10I mean, do you even like it?
11:13I'm pretty good at it.
11:15However, his hatred for the film goes much deeper than just some bad blocking.
11:19In 2023, Orr filed a lawsuit alleging that the Toohees never actually adopted him,
11:24but instead tricked him into a conservatorship to profit from his life story.
11:28For Orr, The Blind Side isn't just an embarrassing movie.
11:31It's a prop used to allegedly exploit him out of millions of dollars,
11:35while the world cheered for his saviors.
11:38I think what you're doing is so great.
11:41To open up your home to him.
11:44Honey, you're changing that boy's life.
11:48No.
11:50He's changing mine.
11:51Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel,
11:54and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
11:57You have the option to be notified for occasional videos, or all of them.
12:01If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
12:07Julian Assange, The Fifth Estate
12:09If you want to know the truth, no one is going to tell you the truth.
12:15They're only going to tell you their version.
12:18So, if you want the truth, you have to seek it out for yourself.
12:23Usually, subjects wait until the movie is out to hate it.
12:26But Julian Assange hated The Fifth Estate so much,
12:29he tried to kill it before cameras even rolled.
12:32When he found out Benedict Cumberbatch was playing him,
12:34Assange wrote a desperate 10-page email to the actor,
12:38begging him to quit the so-called, quote,
12:40wretched project.
12:41Assange characterized the script as a, quote,
12:43hatchet job, based on lies, designed solely to destroy his credibility.
12:48And if the whistleblower's identity is secret,
12:52then he has nothing to fear.
12:56As Oscar Wilde said,
12:58give a man a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
13:02And when he learned that Cumberbatch was going through with it,
13:04he outright refused to meet him,
13:06stating that the actor was now a hired gun for anti-Wikileaks propaganda.
13:10Indeed, Assange was somewhat validated.
13:13The movie received poor reviews,
13:15with many people criticizing its screenplay
13:17and its shallow depiction of Assange's complexity.
13:20Well, that one is based on the two worst books
13:24full of lies and distortion,
13:26like all bad propaganda look.
13:28WikiLeaks movie.
13:30It's more like the anti-Wikileaks movie.
13:32What do you make of these performances?
13:34Let us know in the comments.
13:40www.wikileaks.com
Comments