Family members of the iconic gospel singer Mahalia Jackson are furious that Fantasia Barrino is pregnant, reportedly by her married boyfriend Antwaun Cook, and still expected to star in the biopic Mahalia!.
“The family thinks if Fantasia plays the role, it’s going to sully the name of Mahalia,” the film’s executive producer Adrian Taylor told the New York Post. “They think she’s got the wrong image, having a child out of wedlock.”
Producers of the film are also enraged that Fantasia did not tell them she was officially pregnant until she was four months in. “She initially claimed that she was putting on weight for the role,” an insider said.
The former American Idol winner was expected to begin shooting the film this year, but producers have now been forced to push the start date back until after she delivers her baby.
Production has now is been moved to January 2012 and Fantasia’s due date is December 27th of this year.
Film executives are in a mad dash to finish Mahalia! by fall of 2012. Because Fantasia has to begin filming only a month after giving birth, she is now in negotiations to alter her contract to allow time for breast-feeding and nurturing on set.
The film’s producers are said to be steady at work seeking out a replacement for Barrino in case she in unable to bounce back after giving birth. Thus far, Missy Elliot has been suggested as a replacement.
Because of the unexpected pregnancy, the film’s budget has reportedly jumped from $23 million to $27 million.
According to the New York Post, Dino Gankendorff, the representative of Mahalia Jackson’s estate said, “I’m not really aware of any objections that the heirs have to the casting of Fantasia. I understand that they were getting ready to film and that she is pregnant, and I don’t know who she is pregnant by.”
Fantasia has yet to formally acknowledge that Antwaun Cook is the father of her baby, however the pair were spotted coupled up and posing for photographers during her recent baby shower earlier this month in North Carolina.
In August, the 27-year-old R&B singer announced that she was pregnant during a concert in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Jacksonville, Florida. At the time, Fantasia said her pregnancy was a gift from God, “This child that I carry, God has given me this child. And I don’t have to hide it from none of y’all.”
Barrino has a 10-year-old daughter, Zion Quari Barrino, from a previous relationship.
