An argument outside a Suffolk, Va., barbershop over who should portray Aretha Franklin in a movie about her life ended in a shooting.
And it wasn’t an hour since the icon passed away before the incident occurred.
Witnesses disclosed to News 3 that two men were arguing about whether or not Halle Berry would or should play Franklin in a film. The fight began inside the local barbershop before it spilled outside of it.
Michael Hatton, 44, has been identified as one of the subjects. He pulled out a gun and, according to witnesses, fired 4-5 shots. Police responded to a report about the shooting at around 10:45 a.m. The victim, 47-year-old Tony Lundy, is at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in critical condition. Hatton was treated for his injuries and released from the hospital before being served with warrants at the magistrate’s office. He’s currently being held at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail without bond.
An investigation into the matter is ongoing.
As for the nature of the argument, Franklin herself has said she would like Berry to play her in a film based on her memoir, “Aretha: From These Roots.”
Berry was listed in a press release about who she’d ideally like in the film and Franklin spoke on the subject when she called in to “The Wendy Williams Show” in 2011.
“Halle Berry is my pick for the older Aretha,” the icon who died Thursday of advanced pancreatic cancer said at the time. “There’s a young Aretha that has yet to be named.”
Berry, however, didn’t think she was the right fit for the role.
“I can’t sing!” she told E! News on the red carpet of the 68th annual Golden Globes. “If I could carry a tune, I’d consider it. Someone should tell Aretha that I can’t do her justice.”
Yet in a letter Franklin sent to Williams, she was insistent on Berry being able to play her.
“I never expected Halle to sing. She’s an actress, not a singer,” she said. “Many actors have portrayed vocalists by lip-synching to the artists’ original recordings.”
