The granddaughter of the music legend and civil rights activist criticised Harris for her “hypocrisy” because a Nina Simone song was performed by John Legend during her inauguration, while the descendants of Simone have been deprived of her legacy.
ReAnna Simone Kelly, the granddaughter of iconic American singer Nina Simone, has slammed US Vice President Kamala Harris for “taking away” the rights to Simone’s estate from her family, and giving it “to white people”. She also said the vice president “bullied” her mother, Lisa Simone Kelly, to the verge of suicide.
Nina’s granddaughter here. My family doesn’t run her estate anymore. It was taken away from us & given to white people. Our family name was DRAGGED in the media. We get NO royalties, nothing. Wanna hold someone accountable?Ask Kamala Harris why she came for my family #NinaSimone https://t.co/mMXOz7iLxn
— RéAnna Simone Kelly (@reasiimone) June 19, 2021
In a series of Twitter posts, ReAnna accused Harris, who was California Attorney General at the time, of going after her family and doing everything in order to strip Simone’s descendants of her legacy.
As I said before, Ask her why she separated my family. Ask her why my grandmothers estate is in SHAMBLES now. Ask her why we as her family no longer own the rights to anything. Ask her why she bullied my mother in court and my mom almost killed herself from the depression.
— RéAnna Simone Kelly (@reasiimone) June 19, 2021
&ask yourself this question. With grandma Nina being as famous as she is. With all of these artists covering her. Her name & likeness being used by damn near everybody. Why is it that her family is living paycheck to paycheck? Why do I have to consider stripping to pay my bills?
— RéAnna Simone Kelly (@reasiimone) June 19, 2021
Reacting to those posts, Lisa Simone Kelly posted a video on Saturday, supporting her daughter, smiling at how she “came out blazing” and “started a fire”.
The granddaughter of the music legend was referring to a legal battle between Harris and Lisa Simone Kelly, which was settled back in 2016. The then-attorney general accused Nina Simone’s daughter of “breaching her fiduciary duty” and later made Lisa Simone Kelly relinquish her rights to her mother’s work.
“The Attorney General asserts that [Lisa Simone] Kelly breached her fiduciary duty to the Estate and to the Charitable Trust and wrongfully diverted Estate assets. The Attorney General seeks to surcharge Kelly for amounts totalling $5,937,749.42 plus over $2.5 million in interest, which the Attorney General contends is far more than one-half of the Estate’s value during [Lisa Simone] Kelly’s administration of the Estate”, the settlement read.
It is unclear who is now in charge of the estate.
Sputnik