‘I never want to hear about it again’: Tomi Adeyemi speaks out regarding ‘Children of Blood and Bone,’ recalls leaving set sobbing
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Spotlight on Tomi Adeyemi during New York Comic Con 2024 at The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on October 19, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jason Mendez/Getty Images for ReedPop)
The acclaimed author released a video statement on Threads on Wednesday, roughly one day after the trailer to the film adaptation of her fantasy novel was released.
Despite the acclaim of the recently released “Children of Blood and Bone” trailer, Tomi Adeyemi, who wrote the book and co-wrote the script for the upcoming film adaptation, says the movie was “the worst thing I have ever had to live through” and added that she “never wants to hear about this project again.”
In a five-minute video shared on social media on Wednesday, Adeyemi added to a prior statement, saying she wouldn’t watch the movie based on her best-selling fantasy novel.
“I’m going to post this so I don’t have to talk about this anymore,” she began. “What I’m about to share is not a secret to the people involved. It’s a reality I’ve had to live with for about a year and a half, and everyone involved, at least at the highest level, has been made aware of it, yet they haven’t done anything to make it better. If anything, they’ve only antagonized me, and I accept that. But I also accept if I don’t say something, I think it’s just going to be worse.”
In the video, Adeyemi referenced her treatment on the film’s set, stating that she left it “hyperventilating and sobbing” and that, behind the scenes, she was “still being antagonized.”
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“I’m not going to speak on what I endured to make it through the young adult trilogy, and I’m not going to speak about everything that I also suffered through or endured to make the adaptation a reality,” Adeyemi said. “I’m actually only going to speak about what happened after I left that set of my own film adaptation, hyperventilating and sobbing. There are many witnesses, so it’s not really a secret. I came back to America and suffered such severe somatic pain and so many panic attacks. I knew it was so bad that I would never ever be able to watch this film, and I made peace with that.”
As the film’s trailer arrived on Tuesday, soundtracked to Beyoncé’s “Energy,” Adeyemi again distanced herself from the film.
“But as it is being marketed,” Adeyemi added, “And as I am still being antagonized behind the scenes, which is where I hoped all of this would stay, it’s become apparent to me that reality needs to at least be made known, so that you guys can understand how this film, which I worked on to make it a little better for us to be alive, is also the worst thing I have ever had to live through.”
Adeyemi has not spoken publicly about what occurred on the set, despite earlier insinuations via her comments that she had been at odds with actress Amandla Stenberg, who portrays Princess Amari in the film. Instead, Adeyemi hoped that her video would quell any conversation about her and the upcoming movie, which arrives next January.
“I don’t wish to speak on it anymore. I don’t know if that’s possible,” Adeyemi said. “I understand that I have a public presence, and that this is a global project. It’s probably useless posting a video. I really don’t know. I don’t do things like this, but I also understand that being silent about it is making the pain a lot worse.
“And even though it feels awful to share this, it’s better to share it and have it known and understood before I see a bunch of you for this new book. So please understand, I never want to hear about this project again. I don’t have anything to say about the people who made it. I do not care anymore. I’m trying to move on. This video might make it worse, but I don’t know how it can be any worse. So I’m just going to share that and let it live.”