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Tyler Perry And Soledad O’Brien Host Gala Honoring Bishop T.D. Jakes’ 35 Years Of Ministry

T.D. Jakes has quietly been making waves as a film producer. He’s already notched a few films under his belt over the years, but more recently garnered greater attention for Jumping The Broom, and of course, the Sparkle remake featuring Whitney Houston.

In a Q&A with Mediabistro, Jakes talked about what it was like working with Whitney Houston. According to the pastor, she was working on returning to prominence.

     You produced Whitney Houston’s last film, Sparkle. What was your experience working with her, and if you could say something to her today what would you tell her?

     My experiences with her were very positive; I can say that. I did not know her prior to her involvement with Sparkle. I certainly knew who she was and I loved her music. I was a great fan of some of the movies that she had done in the past. Both Debra Martin Chase and myself, who worked together as producers on Sparkle, were just thrilled that she had come on board. She performed professionally and effectively and delivered, I think, a very believable role playing the mother character in Sparkle, so that was all wonderful.

     As it relates to what I would say to her today, wow, that’s a really hard question because there’s so much that I do not know about her personal life. I don’t know anything other than what I’ve read. I’ve never been in a personal setting with her. I have learned to read with some skepticism information that is filtered about a person through media, because sometimes it gives us a warped perception of who they really are. We all make mistakes and choices.

     I can say that the impression she left with me is that she was swinging upward, regaining her sense of who she was, that she was trying to really get her life back together and I, like many Americans, was rooting for her, that she would be able to do that. My personal thought was that Sparkle would be the beginning of many more films and opportunities for her to come, because I thought she was really rebounding, and I was shocked and hurt and disappointed that her life was cut away so soon.

You can read the profile in full here.

— Michael Arceneaux

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