DJ Spinderella is not happy with this Lifetime Salt-N-Pepa movie

Earlier this afternoon, Lifetime released their new movie Salt-N-Pepa, which, as the name suggests, is a biopic covering the ups and downs of careers from the first Grammy-winning and platinum-selling all-female rap group. Unlike some lifetime projects that have crawled out of woodwork over the years, Salt-N-Pepa is majority licensed – that is, it was produced and co-written by Salt and Pepa (and co-produced by their old girlfriend Queen Latifah), But do not, revealing by the trio old third member, DJ Spinderella. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that Spinderella (aka Diedre Roper, who joined the band soon after releasing their debut album in 1985, and who has spent over 30 years as a DJ) was sacked from the group in 2019, after which she sued Salt and Pepa on allegations of unpaid royalties. (The trial ultimately resulted in mediation.)

Given its essential role The success of the group, it’s no surprise that Roper appears in the film, played by Monique Jasmine Paul. It’s also no surprise that the real Roper isn’t particularly pleased with her inclusion, without participation, in the film, taking to Twitter today to write, among other things, that “Words cannot fully express my disappointment when I learned that a decision had been made to move forward with a lifetime biopic that wrongly excluded me from all aspects of development and production. . Paul, however.)

It turns out that Salt and Pepa have spoken this week (somewhat obliquely) about removing Spinderella from the group. Talk to The breakfast club yesterday Cheryl “Salt” James argued that she and Sandra “Pepa” were already an established act when Spinderella was added to the group by producer Hurby Azor, and that Roper was always a “Adding” to an established dynamic that dated back to the duo’s high school years. Reading not particularly difficult between the lines, tthe clear implication is this Spin was never, and never was to be, a full member of the partnership, and that certainty ultimately led to his dismissal. (You can watch this part at 2:35 PM in the video below.)