Henrietta Lacks The Untold Story by Ron Lacks

Author:Ron Lacks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-22T14:20:28+00:00

David Lacks (Courtesy of Joyce Foster)

Henrietta Lacks’ family

Lawrence and Bobbette Lacks

Bobbette Lacks

7

HBO and Oprah Come Knocking

I can’t recall when Oprah Winfrey actually bought the rights to Rebecca Skloot’s book. I just remember hearing about it one day. It was exciting for someone as famous as Oprah to be interested in our grandmother’s story. Knowing her background as an investigative journalist, I hoped that she might seek out the true Lacks family story and expose Rebecca Skloot’s lies. Back then, I saw the movie deal as an opportunity to right a wrong. I know better now though.

There was a lot going on during that time, with HBO and Oprah’s involvement. For one thing, this is when some of the family members decided to completely sell us all out, for just $16,000. HBO offered us the opportunity to serve as consultants on the film. When I say “us,” I mean my dad, Sonny, Abdul, Jeri Lacks, Alfred Carter Jr., and La Tonya Carter (Dale’s children). They sent over a contract that said how much each person would be paid and included all of these rules we had to follow as consultants. My dad was dealing with a lawyer who advised him not to speak with Oprah or sign the agreement. At the time, I didn’t know all that the agreement entailed, but I thought that my dad should at least have a one-on-one conversation with Oprah before making a final decision. My mother agreed with me. We all told him he should talk to her because we felt that he could have gotten in front of the story with Oprah before the movie came out. We all figured that he may have been able to negotiate better terms by speaking with her and discussing his concerns.

Since my dad refused to talk to her, the HBO people started communicating with me directly in hopes that I would bring my father around. Regarding me specifically, the contract said: “HBO wishes to consult directly with Artist, Ron Lacks, Artist’s son, shall be authorized to speak for Artist and shall be the conduit between HBO and Artist.”

The amount of compensation for consulting was $16,667.67.

That part of the contract stated:

“Artist shall accept:

The aggregate amount of Sixteen Thousand Six Hundred Sixty-six and 67/100 Dollars ($16,666.67) (the “Consultant Fee”), which shall be payable as follows:Fifty percent (50%) promptly following delivery to HBO of this executed and notarized Certificate of Engagement; and

Fifty percent (50%) promptly following the later of (A) commencement of principal photography of the Project, (B) completion of Artist’s Consulting Services as reasonably required by HBO, and (C) eighteen months from the date that a fully- executed copy of this Agreement is delivered to HBO.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.