‘I was hyperventilating and crying’: Tomi Adeyemi says Blood and Bone film ‘worst thing I’ve ever been through’ | Video

Tomi Adeyemi, author of Children of Blood and BoneHe has also spoken extensively about the challenges that led to adapting his novel for the big screen, calling it “the worst thing I’ve ever had to do”.

In a five-minute video on TikTok, the author said that he left Paramount “hyperventilating and sobbing”, adding: “I don’t want to hear about this project anymore”.

Adeyemi, who co-wrote the film, has expressed his concerns about the change, saying he does not want to watch the film.

The video he posted on TikTok was created, he said, to try to frame the story, although the author admitted that it lengthened the story. He also said that the people involved in the film continued to “oppose him”.

He said: “What I am going to share is not a secret to the people involved. “It is true that I have been with him for about a year and a half, and everyone involved, at least the highest, was informed about this, and they did nothing to make it happen. If anything, they just challenge me, and I agree.

He said: “I don’t talk about what I endured to be followed by three adults, and I don’t talk about everything I experienced or endured to change.”

“I’ll just talk about what happened when I left my film, breathing hard and crying. There are many witnesses, so it’s not really a secret. I came back to America and I felt terrible pain and a lot of fear. I knew it was so bad that I would never be able to watch the film, and I made peace with it.”

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times earlier this week, director Gina Prince-Bythewood appeared to address the controversy surrounding Amandla Stenberg, who portrays Princess Amari in the film.

Prince-Bythewood said the change was “strongly inspired by Nigeria and inclusive of all diaspora. We wanted all of us to see ourselves in this, our full and complete selves, all the beautiful colors.”

Although the actor and the author appeared to be close last spring, it seems like a disagreement that has put a strain on the relationship. A now-deleted TikTok video she posted appeared to show group chats including Stenberg, to whom Adeyemi wrote: “Don’t ever use my name in an interview or video again. Don’t text me. Don’t call me.”

The film also stars Regina King, Damson Idris, Cynthia Erivo, Idris Elba, Tosin Cole, Viola Davis, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lashana Lynch and Thuso Mbedu.

Prince-Bythewood was speaking at an event to mark the release of the film’s first trailer on Monday, which appears to have acted as an incentive for Adeyami to speak again.

“The way it’s being sold,” he said on TikTok, “and I’m still being criticized behind the scenes, where I believed that all of this would be, it has become clear to me that the truth needs to be communicated, so that you guys understand how this film, which I’ve worked on to make it better for us to live, is the most difficult thing I’ve ever faced.”