Amy Winehouse's Father Slams 'Amy' Documentary & Director For Unflattering Portrayal

[Photo by Sarah Lee for The Guardian UK]

As long as celebrity has been something to covet in our culture, parents of successful entertainers have been looking to co-opt their children's ascent for their own starry-eyed dreams of fame. Mitch Winehouse, father of soul redeemer Amy Winehouse, recently emerged as the latest in that line, speaking out in an interview with The Guardian, where he insists director Asif Kapadia made very deliberate slights at him and his family in the forthcoming documentary treatment Amy, particularly in regards to his waving off rehab as a necessary treatment for his daughter's well-documented struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. He claims:

"They're happy to portray me as a money-grabbing, attention-seeking father who wasn't there. Amy wouldn’t want that, because Amy knows that is not the truth. My concern is that a potential funder might see this film and go: 'Why would we want to give money?' They can say what they like about me, I couldn't care less, but when it affects the foundation, that's when it hurts."

But how can we possibly sympathize with a man who cites the impending disincentive of potential donors to his foundation as his main gripe with the film? Does that not, in itself, prove precisely what Kapadia is hinting at? That Mitch Winehouse is just another one of those leeches that literally sucked the life out of a soaring star? I suppose we'll have to see the film in its final form to know for certain, but if Mitch Winehouse wants to disassociate himself and his family from the film, I don't think he'll find much in the way of opposition. Amy, is slated to arrive in UK theaters July 3rd with a US release date to be announced imminently.