“It has been going around that Cindy was not on the Red Carpet, and when I looked at everything, if they should do that, it’s gonna create a backlash if the reason for doing that is to talk about the mistress saga,” reggae historian Coplean Forbes told WMV about Breakspeare’s potential lack of appearance or physical involvement in the “Bob Marley: One Love” movie promotion.
After three premieres, Damian is also noticeably absent from the “One Love” movie promotions, as he did not make any appearances at the red carpet premieres in Kingston, London, or Paris. The “Welcome To Jamrock” singer goes on the Traffic Jam tour along with his brother Stephen, who is the musical director of the movie in two weeks.
“The Marley who brings the biggest attention to the family is Damian, outside of Bob,” Copeland says about the importance of the youngest Marley superstar. “Bob and Cindy were called ‘Beauty and The Beast.’ The label head used that as part of the promotion for Bob,” Forbes recalls, adding that he was present at the planning meetings of the “One Love” concert in 1978 held at event producer Tommy Cowan’s home.
Born Cynthia Jean Cameron Breakspeare, the jazz musician, and singer was crowned Miss World 1976 and soon after got involved in an intimate relationship with Bob Marley in the exact period that the film covers.
The relationship lasted until Bob’s passing in 1981 despite Marley’s marital ties to Rita Marley, who is a producer of “Bob Marley: One Love,” along with her children Ziggy and Cedella Marley. At the time of Bob and Cindy’s relationship, the reggae icon was also engaged in relationships with several women, including Pascaline Bongo and Yvette Crichton, who bore Bob’s youngest child Makeda Jahnesta Marley in 1981, according to the book “Rasta Heart: A Journey Into One Love” by Robert Roskind, three years after Breakspeare gave birth to Damian Marley in 1978.
In the 2012 “Marley” documentary-biographical film directed by Kevin Macdonald, which premiered at Emancipation Park in Kingston, Jamaica, Cindy Breakspeare was prominently featured as part of the life of Bob Marley, and the song “Turn Your Lights Down Low” was a dedication to her.
A documentary making the rounds on social media shows Rita Marley explaining the details of her commitment to Bob Marley, saying, “I didn’t feel like I was a wife; I felt like I was Bob’s background vocal. So there are little things I would have to remind him, like ‘hey Bob, be careful, watch those girls.’ Then I became the watch eye, the mother hen. He would call me sometimes to get girls out of his room, and I didn’t complain because I felt I was there for the job, so the relationship became ‘I have a commitment to this thing.'”
“I can remember we had this Exodus album, and he was doing this song that I found out that he wrote for Cindy, when he just met Cindy and I said ‘what? you wrote this song for Cindy and want me to sing, I am not singing it,'” Rita said.
In the same video, Cindy bragged, “Yep Turn Your Lights Down Low is my song; it has been said that all of those songs on that particular album were written at the time when we were at the height of our relationship. I know he was heavily criticized for it.”
Although she is yet to participate in Paramount’s multi-million dollar cross continent promotions of the film, last year Breakspeare had posted several images of herself and actress Umi Myers, who plays her character in the film while in production in Jamaica. Captioning the images: “About last night…”EXODUS” Heroes Park..& Bob Marley Museum today…the fabric of our LIVES!!!! ❤️💛💚.”
Myers attended the London premiere earlier this week and posted images of herself wearing a lounge dress with snake-like breast covers. Cindy commented on the instagram post saying, “the most fabulously stunning goddess to walk THAT red carpet!!!” To which Myers responded, “the only goddess is you!”
“It’s not a documentary; it’s a Hollywood movie, so you’re not gonna see the true facts. It’s a box office thing to make money. The movie was advertised during the basketball game, so there’s a lot of money being spent to promote the movie,” Forbes, author of the book “Reggae My Life Is” concluded.
Beverly Kelso, founding member of the Wailers group is seen in a video on Facebook posted Janaury 27, lamenting that the she has been left out of the Marley story. Forbes reposted the video and commented on Facebook, “She was part of the foundation and creation of the Wailers back in 1962/63, sang on some of the great hits like the first hit “Simmer Down” “Lonesome Feeling” “Hurts To Be Alone” ” I Don’t Need Your Love” “Straight & Narrow Way” and ” How Many Times” are some of the songs she sang on back then.”
Ziggy Marley commented in response to a fan saying, “doesn’t look or feel like Bob to me” under a video of lead actor Kingsley Ben-Adir singing “Jamming” by saying, “Its the Bob Marley you dont know ,” adding a wink emoji.
“Bob Marley: One Love” will have it’s fourth and final premiere on February 6 in Los Angeles California ahead of the global theatrical release on February 14. The Paramount, Plan B and Tuff Gong Pictures release is projected to earn $30 million in its first week.
Editor’s Note:
In editing this article, we have made adjustments to ensure that the quotes from the individuals mentioned are presented verbatim. Our aim is to provide readers with accurate and direct statements without any room for interpretation. This approach helps maintain the integrity of the original sources and ensures clarity in conveying the messages expressed by the subjects. This decision aligns with our commitment to journalistic transparency and accuracy.
