Have you ever dedicated years of your life to a project only to have people go to great lengths to shut it down?
I am talking lawsuits, blackmail, and a thirty thousand dollar payoff to a distributor to get out of a deal?
Have you ever stumbled on to something that wasn’t what you thought it was at all? A trip to the Pryor house landed us in more trouble than we could ever imagine. After taping an intriguing, yet disturbing afternoon with Richard Pryor and Jennifer Lee Pryor, our film’s future would be forever altered. After careful deliberation amongst Richard Belzer and ourselves we went ahead and included carefully chosen footage.
During our first screening, we were amazed to see that we were not the only ones upset by the Pryor footage. Still, we did not know the scope of what we had stumbled into. Each subsequent screening brought the same reactions.
When, finally, Jennifer heard about the film, all of our trouble started. What is it that she is trying to hide?
Everything that she says in the interview, she has said elsewhere.
So, is it what is unsaid? What is it about her behavior towards Richard that everyone finds to be uncomfortable and disturbing? We were told that Richard Pryor was going to sue Belzer. Why would a comic who performed up until he couldn’t speak want to sue another comic and friend? Pryor made his sickness public. He allowed every aspect of his life, even the unattractive ones, to be public. He never hid anything.
Why would he want to hide something now? Or does Jennifer have something to hide? Why did a scandalous article about Richard Belzer appear in Star Magazine shortly after Jennifer’s threat? Why did Richard immediately change his position on the Pryor footage and demand that we pull it? Does Jennifer have something on him? He has yet to give us any explanation to his sudden change of heart.
We have since learned that Social Services has been investigating Jennifer because they contacted us to see our footage. And we have heard from various reliable sources that there are witnesses to alleged physical abused toward Richard, to someone forcing his hand to sign documents, and to the withholding of the proper medical care.
When we were made aware of the allegations, we asked Richard to look into the situation before he made a decision about pulling the footage. He never did. Instead he continued to demand we pull the footage. Pryor
is supposedly one of Belzer’s dearest friends. Why would Richard try to hide what may be evidence to the alleged abuse of his sick friend? Is Jennifer blackmailing him?
On top of all of this is the business scandal. Why did Belzer and Gardner sign a contract with Anchor Bay as the sole owners of the film? Why was the money deposited into Belzer’s personal business account and not the movie account? What made the two of them think we would pay for extravagances in Aspen and receipts dated far before their involvement in the film?
And yet again it comes back around to the Pryors. Is Jennifer the reason that Belzer then paid the distributor $30,000 to be released from the deal? Is the Pryor footage the reason Gardner turned down other offers?
What is everyone trying to hide that is so damaging they feel they must resort to such measures to shut down an independent film? Ironically, Maija was initially applauded by Belzer and several others for attempting to discover the truth in the comedy industry, and now she is being shut down for succeeding. No one will tell her the real reason why.
Designs by Ron Bradley. Protection by Buddy the Dog
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