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Courtesy of LifetimeLaila Odom says the “most important thing” she considered when filming Lifetime’s upcoming biopic, Salt-N-Pepa was portraying the legacy of Sandra “Pepa” Denton and not making a film about Pep’s dating life.
“That’s not what it’s about,” she tells ABC Audio. “We’re not here to gossip. We’re here to give these women their flowers and talk about how wonderful and talented they are.”
The Salt-N-Pepa biopic follows the early years of Cheryl “Salt” James and Pepa as the trailblazing female rap group. The film does offer background on Pep’s past relationship with the father of her adult son, Tyran, and her marriage to rapper Treach, with whom she shares 22-year-old daughter, Egypt.
Odom says an unexpected date scene between Pep and Will Smith was removed from the final version. “It got cut from the film but Will Smith and Pep were supposed to go on a date,” she added.
She felt including that scene would show Pep had other choices in men in the 1990s, at the time she was maintaining her rap career and being a full-time mother.
“In this scene she’s using that as fuel to kind of let Treach know, like not only you want me like other men want me and they bomb, too. So that’s that’s where that comes from,” Odom continues. “It’s not messy. We know that this is a while ago, but so many people don’t know they were supposed to date.”
The biopic will feature some of Salt-N-Pepa’s famous songs, including “Shoop” and “Push It.” Actress GG Townson will play James, and Monique Paul stars as Deidra “DJ Spinderella”Roper, who no longer performs with the group.
Salt-N-Pepa premieres Saturday, January 23 at 8 p.m. EST on Lifetime.
By Rachel George
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