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Nina Simone's Estate Trolls Zoe Saldana Over ‘Blackface’ Casting

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It looks like the anger over Zoe Saldana being cast as Nina Simone in a new biopic has gone all the way to the top.

Widespread uproar began earlier this week, after the poster and trailer for ‘Nina’ was released.

The production was quickly accused of using 'blackface’, with Saldana made up to look significantly darker of skin – she’s of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent, not African – and with what appeared to be a prosthetic nose and an afro-style wig.

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Now the estate of Nina Simone has weighed in with a withering criticism, aimed directly at Saldana after she tweeted defiantly following the controversy.

“'I’ll tell you what freedom is to me- No Fear… I mean really, no fear.’ #NinaSimone,” she tweeted, quoting the singer.

@NinaSimoneMusic, the official feed for the singer’s estate and legacy, then let loose.

The film, which focuses on the relationship between Simone and her manager Clifton Henderson, played by David Oleyowo, has already been hammered by critics after it premiered in Cannes earlier this year.

Many questioned the choice of using make-up to make Saldana look black when so many black actresses could have been considered for the role.

Meanwhile, Simone Kelly, the singer’s daughter, has previously described Saldana’s casting as 'appearance-wise… not the best choice’.

Other articles online have drawn attention to the fact that the production team behind the movie are almost entirely white.

It’s not even the only controversy surrounding the movie, its writer and director Cynthia Mort having since filed a lawsuit against producers, who she claims made cuts and changes to the film without her consent and failed to keep her 'informed of other crucial creative and budgetary developments and decisions throughout production and post-production of the Film’.

The movie’s release was originally set for 2015, now it’s due out in the US in April both in cinemas and on demand.

Image credit: RLJ Entertainment