Sources describe a pretty tense set on Children Of Blood And Bone

Some of the stuff included in this report was previously reported, but good context. The casting of Stenberg, who is biracial, caused some controversy given that she is lighter-skinned than some felt the character was meant to be depicted. At the time, Stenberg defended it, saying that Adeyemi told her over dinner that Stenberg’s performance as Rue in The Hunger Games was part of her inspiration for writing Children Of Blood And Bone and that the author wanted her there. According to Vanity Fair, this is believed to have been the first point of friction between Stenberg and Adeyemi, who never publicly responded to the actor’s video on the topic. 

Two days after the post, Adeyemi arrived on set to film a cameo in the movie. The tension between the two “became palpable” and “difficult to navigate,” per VF‘s source. Though she spoke positively about the film after that, Adeyemi reportedly privately began telling people she’d be distancing herself from the project. Before publicly speaking out against it, sources say Adeyemi had declined an offer to see the completed film. 

But on the bright side, no one had anything negative to say about director Gina Prince-Bythewood. One person is quoted as saying, “The relationship management that Gina has done—Gina’s a saint basically. That’s who I feel worst for in all of this: Gina, because she’s done so much.”