by Rafael Pena
December 16, 2023
Pendergrass’s biopic has taken a turn as Joan Pendergrass, Teddy’s widow, claimed actor Tyrese Gibson is incapable of bringing the proposed movie project to fruition.
The legal battle over the late singer Teddy Pendergrass’s biopic has taken a contentious turn as Joan Pendergrass, Teddy’s widow, criticized actor Tyrese Gibson, accusing him of being a “poor businessman” and incapable of bringing the proposed movie project to fruition, RadarOnline.com reports. The accusations are part of the ongoing dispute between Gibson and Joan Pendergrass over the rights and production of the biopic.
Court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com reveal that Joan Pendergrass launched a scathing attack on Tyrese in her recent filing, urging the court to dismiss the actor’s lawsuit. Tyrese had filed a lawsuit earlier this year, alleging that Joan had unfairly excluded him from the biopic after he invested a significant six-figure sum into the project.
According to Gibson’s lawsuit, his company, Voltron Entertainment, had entered into a deal with Joan in 2011, granting them the rights to Teddy Pendergrass’s life story in exchange for Gibson’s financial investment in the project. Gibson claimed to have invested $450,000 over the past decade but asserted that Joan refused to extend the deal in 2022.
Joan Pendergrass countered Gibson’s claims, arguing that he had signed away his rights to her husband’s life story in a separate deal with Warner Bros in 2019. She contended that the agreement between Voltron and Warner Bros had superseded Gibson’s involvement, sidelining his company from the project.
In the recent filing, Joan criticized Tyrese’s competence in managing the movie project, stating, “Voltron and Tyrese had proven incompetent at putting together a movie project about Teddy Pendergrass.” She also emphasized that Voltron had not exercised its option to purchase Teddy’s life rights and copyrights.
Joan asserted that Tyrese’s association with the project was hindering its chances of success, claiming, “While [Tyrese] may be a talented actor and singer, he was a poor businessman and incapable of getting a movie made.”
She further detailed the events leading to the expiration of the deal with Warner Bros in April 2022 and denied Tyrese’s claim that she had promised his continued involvement in the project. Joan expressed confidence that Voltron’s lawsuit would be revealed as “a meritless and vexatious abuse of the legal process” and demanded the immediate dismissal of the entire case.
Gibson has not yet responded to these latest developments in the ongoing legal dispute.
