Vince Staples has stated that he “won’t be supporting” an upcoming rap film inspired by Mac Miller, which was recently called out by the late rapper’s family.
The movie, which stars Machine Gun Kelly, was set to be titled Good News, a direct nod to Mac’s first posthumous single, and the storyline was reportedly inspired by artists such as Miller himself, Juice WRLD and Pop Smoke who have all faced untimely demises.
Kelly is set to portray an artist making his way in the industry, but the production recently faced backlash from Mac’s brother, Miller McCormick. “Fuck you, fuck your movie, at least change the title,” McCormick wrote on social media earlier this month.
It has now been confirmed that the film will undergo a title change, with producers apologising for being “disrespectful”.
Speaking to NME for this week’s Big Read interview, Staples, who was friends with and worked with Mac prior to his death, made it clear that he won’t be supporting the film unless Mac’s family are onboard.
“[The film is] not something that has been approved by his family,” Staples pointed out, “and I won’t be supporting anything they don’t support.”
When NME posited that the movie, the title of which is yet to be announced, has been portrayed in the press as something of a violation of Mac’s memory, Staples stood firm: “It is a violation.”
Discussing his relationship with Mac and his appreciation for the late rapper/producer, who (under the moniker Larry Fisherman) executive produced Staples’ 2013 mixtape, ‘Stolen Youth’, Staples said his “appreciation for Mac goes past that project”.
“He showed me a lot, showed me a lot of life and took me on tour,” he recalled. “Him and Earl [Sweatshirt] were very instrumental in that point in my life, and helped me redirect my path towards where it kind of is now. So I’m forever grateful to them. It was a great experience. A great opportunity.”
He added: “I’m just happy I was able to know he was such a genuine, polite, and just caring person. It definitely, definitely was a privilege to know him.”
Mac Miller – whose real name was Malcolm McCormick – died on September 7, 2018 at the age of 26. A coroner’s report later revealed his cause of death to be “mixed drug toxicity”, with fentanyl, cocaine and alcohol found in his system at the time of his death.
Last month, a trial date was set for the alleged drug dealers accused of selling Mac the counterfeit pills that killed him.