According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, Idris Elba just came out to reject the plagiarism claims levied by two female writers from the United Kingdom who claim to have helped develop the play, Tree, created by Idris and Kwame Kwei-Armah.
The women in question claim they were fired from the project and not given proper credit in the creation of the play’s script. Written on a website on the 2nd of July, just two days ahead of production’s opening at the Manchester International Festival, the women made their accusations.
The play was supposed to premiere at the Young Vic Theater in London beginning on the 29th of July and continuing until the 29th of August. Tori Allen-Martin and Sarah Henley claim they played a role in creating the basic premise of the play, case-in-point, the main plot-point of the UK-born half-black and half-white man who is forced to return to South Africa as a result of a familial tragedy.
Reported first by In Stage Magazine, the woman stated they were fired shortly before Tree started production. On Thursday, Idris Elba tweeted on his account that the story came as a consequence of his making of Mi Mandela, a music record produced in South Africa, inspired by his father during his role as Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom.
Tree – The Genesis. Read my statement https://t.co/91CZ5xHkv3 pic.twitter.com/HjjqIJdP7b
— Idris Elba (@idriselba) July 4, 2019
According to the actor, Allen-Martin, who happened to be one of the singers on the Mi Mandela record, as well as Henley, were involved in the beginning brain-storming of the show but they left it when Elba and Kwei-Armah chose to follow a new path.
Elba said he and the director respected their decision to leave the production, and their names were included in the forwarding of the program, however, he created the original idea. Idris added that the consequence of this interaction was discrimination as well as accusations of plagiarism.
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Putting these accusations aside, Elba has had his hands in different kinds of art in the last few years, including DJing. Reportedly, Elba was one of the DJs at the Coachella Music Valley and Arts Festival this year, as well as a DJ at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding reception.
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