Amy Winehouse’s father threatens documentary makers with legal action

The Winehouse family have now released an official statement regarding the film

Amy Winehouse‘s father has threatened to begin legal action against the people behind a new documentary about the late singer.

Amy: The Girl Behind The Name is due to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month, but Mitch Winehouse is not happy about the way the biopic depicts him.

Speaking to the Sun, Winehouse said he felt sick when he watched the film, adding that: “Amy would have be furious. This is not what she would have wanted.”

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He criticised the filmmakers for allowing his daughter’s ex-boyfriend Blake Fielder-Civil in the documentary. Winehouse said: “Blake is saying in the film that the reason Amy was like that was because of me — not because he gave her crack and heroin and because he completely manipulated and coerced her into Class A drugs. If the real truth came out about Blake, he wouldn’t be able to walk down the street, so how they can allow him to make that claim about me is so hurtful and beyond belief.”

Winehouse went on to recall how he and the rest of the family had helped his daughter through her addiction, saying: “I was there for her. We were all there every day and Amy phoned me up to seven times a day. From this film there’s no impression of that whatsoever. Especially when she was sick I was there all the time.”

He concluded: “We can’t stop it but when the film does come out we can sue for libel or slander. Our lawyers will view the film and reserve the right to do that and see whether there are any grounds.”

In an official statement provided by a spokesperson for the family, the Winehouses have further sought to distance themselves from the film. “The Winehouse family would like to disassociate themselves from the forthcoming film about their much missed and beloved Amy,” it begins.

“They feel that the film is a missed opportunity to celebrate her life and talent and that it is both misleading and contains some basic untruths. There are specific allegations made against family and management that are unfounded and unbalanced. The narrative is formed by the testimony of a narrow sample of Amy’s associates, many of whom had nothing to do with her in the last years of her life. Counter views expressed to the filmmakers did not make the final cut.”

It continues, claiming filmmakers ignored information provided to them about the family’s efforts to help the singer through her addiction: “Fundamentally, the Winehouse family believes that the film does a disservice to individuals and families suffering from the complicated affliction of addiction. By misunderstanding the condition and its treatment, the film suggests for instance that not enough was done for Amy, that her family and management pushed her into performing or did not do enough to help her. In reality, the filmmakers were told of a huge effort from all concerned to help Amy at all stages of her illness and their constant presence in her life throughout, as well as that of many excellent medical professionals.”

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The statement concludes by conceding that “Amy was an adult who could never be told what she could and could not do” but set out the Winehouse family’s motivations in the aftermath of her death, saying that: “Through their work with the Amy Winehouse Foundation, Amy’s family have met many others enduring through the same struggle that they endured and have helped hundreds of disadvantaged young people in Amy’s name. They will continue to do so and hope their work creates more understanding of a terrible illness.”

Amy: The Girl Behind The Name is set to be released on July 3. Amy Winehouse died in her Camden home on July 23 2011 from alcohol poisoning.

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