What did Patti Labelle say about Luther Vandross? Singer heartbroken over 'villainous' depiction in late singer's documentary

American singer and actress Patti Labelle recently opened up about the late record producer Luther Vandross and his CNN documentary. LaBelle's team was reportedly unhappy with how she was portrayed in the film, called Luther: Never Too Much which was released on New Year's Day. This is because it allegedly depicted Labelle as a "villain" for reportedly outing Vandross posthumously to the world.

Now, according to Page Six’s January 5 report, the singer felt she was set up by the movie's producers who “used her as a villain when she supported him up to the very end.”

The reaction came after Labelle’s 2017 interview clip from Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen was used in the movie. During the same, she talked with the interviewer about the late singer being gay. A post uploaded on Instagram by The Neighborhood Talk on January 7, featured a clip from Andy Cohen's show, where Labelle could be heard saying:

“Because of the stigma back then, if he was gay, the thought of a quote 'coming out,' he couldn’t bear it. He would rather be alone than have that stigma attached.”

Now, the clip, combined with Vandross' collaborator, Richard Marx, reportedly criticizing friends who disclosed private information about the former, garnered negative reactions from netizens which caused some of LaBelle's representatives to believe that she was unfairly portrayed as a bad person.

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Patti Labelle opened up about her interview footage which was used in Luther Vandross’ documentary

Labelle and Vandross were great friends (Image via Getty Images)

Patti Labelle recently opened up about her representation in Luther Vandross’ documentary. According to the Page Six report, despite Patti Labelle's long-standing association with Luther Vandross and his family, the film had reportedly falsely claimed that the female singer, who had been friends with him for decades, talked about his personal life in public.

This happened after LaBelle took part in an interview for the CNN documentary. However, when she was not given the opportunity to see the final cut, she refused to sign the release documents.

As a result, the producers allegedly replaced her actual footage with a 2017 footage from Patti Labelle's Watch What Happens Live interview with Andy Cohen, in which she talked about Vandross' hesitation to come out publicly.

In the clip, when Cohen asked LaBelle if Vandross struggled with coming out publicly, she replied:

“We talked about it… He did not want his mother to be [upset] — although she might have known — but, he wasn’t going to come out and say this to the world.”

Now, the clip, along with Marx’s words, enraged the late singer’s supporters and led Patti Labelle and her representatives to believe that she was unfairly painted in the movie. Making matters worse for her, Marx said in the documentary:

“One of the things that really pissed me off is there are people who have talked about his personal life, who, you know, he considered friends.”

Additionally, The Neighborhood Talk further reported that the important aspects of the singer's close relationship with Vandross, such as her support of him during his illness and their reciprocal influence on one another's lives, were reportedly deliberately left out of the documentary.

Patti Labelle was further blamed because, before her interview with Cohen, whenever Vandross was asked about his sexuality in different interviews, he always told the interviewers that it was none of their “f*cking business.”

Additionally, the film also talks about the romantic chapter of his life with an interview of Vandross in his own words. About the same, he said:

“Let me tell you who I owe answers to: What I owe you is my music, my talent, my best effort… that’s all… I will neither deny or confirm that any such rumors about personal things like that are true or untrue.... won’t even address it…”

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Now, following Patti Labelle’s recent comments, Vandross’ family members have not responded yet.