Earlier this afternoon, Lifetime has released its new film Sare-N-Pepa, which, as the name suggests, is a biopic that covers the ups and downs of careers of the first female group, which won a Grammy, sold platinum. Unlike some lifelong projects that have crawled out of wood over the years, Sare-N-Pepa is mostly licensed – meaning it was produced and co-written by both Salt and Pepa (and co-produced by their old friend Queen Latifah), but not, clearly by the trio former third member, DJ Spinderella. This probably has a lot to do with the fact that Spinderella (aka Diedre Roper, who joined the group shortly after the release of her first album in 1985)and who spent more than 30 years as a DJ) was fired from the group in 2019, after which he sued Salt and Pepa on charges of unpaid royalties. (The trial eventually led to mediation.)
Given its integral role in the success of the group, it is not surprising that Roper appears in the film, played by Monique Jasmine Paul. It is also not surprising that the real Roper is not particularly pleased to include her, without participating, in the film, taking to Twitter today to write, among other things, that “Words cannot fully express my disappointment when I found out that the decision was made to go on with a biographical film for life that unjustly excluded me from every aspect of development and production … ”(She had kind words for Paul, though.)
G / O Media may receive a commission
As it happens, Salt and Pepa talked this week (somewhat obliquely) about removing Spinderella from the group. Talk with Breakfast Club yesterday, Cheryl “Salt” James claimed that she and Sandra “Pepa” Denton were already an established act when Spinderella was added to the group by producer Hurby Azor, and that Roper was always a “Addition” to an established dynamic dating back to the duo’s high school years. Reading is not particularly difficult between lines, tthe implication is clear that Spin has never been and never will be an equal member of the partnership and that this certainty eventually led to her dismissal. (You can view this part at 2:35 p.m. in the video below.)