Sunday, November 10, 2024

“The Interview” Music Controversies: A Fake Katy Perry, and a Rapper Who Says She Wasn’t Paid

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“The Interview” already has a lot of problems including being banned, batted around by President Obama, a million leaked copies online and so on. But there are some other things going on.

During the scene where Kim Jong Un parties with James Franco and topless call girls director Seth Rogen used some rap disco music. It’s called “Pay Day.” And now the singer and songwriter want their payday. According to reports, Feel Ghood Music is considering legal action. They say they were in negotiations with Sony for the use of “Pay Day” by Yoon Mi Rae (she’s Texas born half-Korean, half African American, real name Natasha Reid) but nothing was ever signed. Now while Champagne is being spritzed, “Pay Day” is playing for free. I can’t believe Sony didn’t clear all the music in the film regardless of the controversy.

Meantime, it turns out all the Katy Perry music used in “The Interview” is not real. When Kim first reveals his Katy obsession to James Franco’s Dave Skylark, that’s a real clip of “Firework.” But I guess it was too expensive to use it twice. Or maybe it was that they needed a slow version of “Firework” during the scene in which Kim is killed and his face melts. Producers used a fake Katy– a singer named Jenny Lane who seems to specialize in covers. Her work is all over the web.

Frankly, Jenny Lane– whoever she is– has the looks and pipes to have her own career. Here’s her “Firework” that appears in the movie:

and here’s how it’s used in the movie

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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