Priscilla Presley hits back against longstanding narrative that Elvis Presley was racist

Tough love! Elvis star Austin Butler opened up about the methods director Baz Luhrmann used to get him into character — some ending up too intense for the actor to handle.

Elvis Presley separated from his wife Priscilla, The King began dating Miss Tennessee model Linda Thompson. From 1972-6, she lived with the star at Graceland and the couple shared his bedroom upstairs in the mansion. To this day, the music icon's private space isn't open to the public, but now his old flame has shared a rare photo from up there.

Baz Luhrmann, the director of the biopic Elvis, has paid tribute following the death of one of the stars of the film Shonka Dukureh, honouring her ‘tremendous talent’.Last month, Dukureh made her film debut playing Big Mama Thornton in the movie, opposite Austin Butler as the titular character, with one of her most memorable moments being when she belted out Hound Dog.This week, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department confirmed that the performer was found in the bedroom of her apartment, which she shared with her two young children. No foul play is suspected, and a cause of death is yet to be classified following the autopsy results.Tributes have come pouring in for the late star, with Luhrmann sharing a series of pictures of Dukureh on Instagram, including one of him kissing her on the forehead while on the set of Elvis.‘A special light went out today and all of the Elvis movie family are heartbroken by the loss of Shonka Dukureh,’ the 59-year-old wrote in his caption.‘From the moment she came into our world, Shonka brought joy, spirit and of course her voice and her music.’Luhrmann said that whenever Dukureh was on set, on stage or in the room, ‘everyone always felt uplifted’.‘Shonka was just starting to find a larger audience for her tremendous talent, and I got to see her uplift whole crowds of people at Coachella and beyond,’ he said.‘A favorite word of Shonka’s, in daily use, was “blessings,” and I, along with the entire Elvis cast, crew and musical collaborators, feel truly blessed to have had time with her.

Celebrities are expressing their heartbreak over the sudden death of Shonka Dukureh.

Doja Cat and Baz Luhrmann have paid tribute to Elvis actress Shonka Dukureh following her death. Dukureh, who made her movie debut as blues singer Big Mama Thornton in Luhrmann's Elvis Presley biopic, was found dead at her home in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday at the age of 44. The actress made a notable appearance in the film singing Thornton's biggest hit Hound Dog - which Presley later recorded - and her rendition of the song was sampled on Doja's single Vegas, taken from the Elvis soundtrack.

Baz Luhrmann says he and the cast of 'Elvis' are devastated by the sudden death of cast member Shonka Dukureh. The recently acclaimed actress, who had just drawn plaudits for her role as blues singer Big Mama Thornton in the Elvis Presley biopic, was tragically found dead in her apartment by one of her young children on Thursday (21. 07.

Baz Luhrmann has said he felt “truly blessed” to have had time with Shonka Dukureh, who starred in his Elvis biopic, before her death aged 44. The actress, who played Big Mama Thornton in the film about superstar Elvis Presley, was found dead in a bedroom at her home in Nashville. It was one of her children who found her unresponsive and went to the apartment of a neighbour, who called emergency services.

Actress and singer Shonka Dukureh, who starred in the biopic Elvis, has died at the age of 44. She played Big Mama Thornton in the film about superstar Elvis Presley and was found dead in a bedroom at her home in Nashville.

Elvis biopic, has died at the age of 44.Dukureh was found dead by police on Thursday (July 21) in her home in Nashville, after one of her two young children found her unresponsive and sought help from a neighbour, who called 911. According to police, there is no evidence of foul play.

Priscilla Presley is setting the record straight when it comes to late husband Elvis Presley‘s relationship with the Black community.

Shonka Dukureh, one of the stars of the new Elvis film, has died aged 44. The recently acclaimed actress was found dead in her apartment by one of her young children, just after recently drawing plaudits for her role as blues singer Big Mama Thornton in the Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Presley biopic. TMZ reported she was found dead in the bedroom of her apartment in Nashville, Tennessee, on Thursday.

A shocking loss. Elvis star Shonka Dukureh was found dead in her Nashville, Tennesse, home on Thursday, July 21. She was 44.

Actress and singer Shonka Dukureh has died at the age of 44, it has been confirmed.The entertainer made her film debut last month in the blockbuster Elvis, the Elvis Presley biopic also starring Tom Hanks and Austin Butler, playing Big Mama Thornton. Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has said Dukureh was found in the bedroom of her apartment and that no foul play is suspected.Dukureh shared the apartment with her two young children and police said one of them found her unresponsive and ran to a neighbour’s house to raise the alarm. The neighbour then called emergency services just before 9:30am on Thursday.

Hollywood actress and singer Shonka Dukureh has died aged 44.The actress recently made her acting debut in the new Elvis Presley film and was found dead by one of her young children in her Nashville flat on Thursday morning, TMZ has reported.In the new Elvis biopic released last month, Shonka played blues singer Big Mama Thornton.READ MORE:Austin Butler 'went through hell' to play Elvis Presley in new big screen biopicAccording to Nashville police, she was found dead in the bedroom of her Antioch apartment that she shared with her kids.Her child is said to have run to a neighbour's house for help, and 911 was called.They added that no foul play is suspected in her death, though investigators will be awaiting autopsy reports before determining a cause of death.Fans and costars are taking to social media to mourn the actress and singer.Nashville Mayor John Cooper mourned her death with a tweet.He shared his condolences to the loved ones of Shonka and penned: "Her powerful voice and artistry will live on through her music, and we honour her memory on this sad day."One heartbroken fan shared a prayer for Shonka's loved ones on Twitter."Lord, please wrap her babies and loved ones in love and healing," the Twitter user wrote.Another tweeted: "Shonka Dukureh passing away is so heartbreaking. More than just a beautiful voice...

Ellise Shafer Shonka Dukureh, the singer and actor who portrayed Big Mama Thornton in Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis,” was found dead in her Nashville, Tenn. apartment on Thursday, police confirmed. She was 44.According to a tweet from the Metro Nashville Police Department, no foul play is evident in Dukureh’s death.

cemented in the biopic “Elvis” — directed by Baz Luhrmann with Austin Butler in the title role — and depicted Elvis being very affected by the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr.’s passing, as well as his relationship with B.B. King.However, Priscilla, 77, is knocking down longstanding assumptions that her former husband had issues with people of color.“Per the movie, [for] a long time it was stated that Elvis was a racist,” the “Naked Gun” actress said on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” earlier this week. “He was not a racist.

Elvis Presley’s relationship with Black musicians has always been complicated, but his ex-wife insists that racism wasn’t

Elvis Presley‘s ex-wife Priscilla Presley has claimed that the late musician was “not racist in any way” while speaking about ‘cancel culture’.During a recent interview on TalkTV’s Piers Morgan Uncensored, Priscilla spoke about Baz Luhrmann’s new biopic Elvis, which sees Austin Butler portray the titular King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.Later, host Piers Morgan asked her whether she believed there would be “a campaign to try and cancel [Elvis] for inappropriate statements, inappropriate behaviour [or] inappropriate lyrics”.Elvis has been criticised by a number of Black artists in the past. Last year, Quincy Jones said that he wouldn’t have worked with the star, claiming he “was a racist”.“He was not a racist – he’s never been a racist,” Priscilla told Morgan. “Elvis had friends, Black friends, friends from all over.

Elvis Presley was indisputably the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, but there’s no denying his bold sense of style goes down in history, too.

Elvis Presley's first major girlfriend after his marriage to Priscilla fell apart was Linda Thompson, who The King dated from 1972-76. The Miss Tennessee model moved into Graceland and during this period saw every single one of his Las Vegas residency shows. At Christmas time 1976, less than a year before Elvis' untimely death at just 42, Linda amicably broke up with The King saying she wanted a more normal life out of the celebrity spotlight.

Countdown to Yuri’s Night, the wild “holiday for space” they would launch into orbit every April until retiring the concept in 2015.Specifically, organizers were asked to throw a new party on January 8 — just an off-beat, one-time-only kind of shindig.Once they learned the date just so happened to be Elvis Presley’s birthday, they ran away with the idea until they got “all shook up” over an event that all but demanded to be revived year after year on account of its uproarious name alone — styled as a misheard play-on-words regarding the King of Pop’s dying wish, while seated on his toilet, “Commodious,” no less.Instead of his wish for a commemorative nightclub, Presley’s legacy lives on here as an underground “fight club,” billed as an “action-packed, punch-drunk, below-the-belt, hilarious night of lowbrow theater.”That might all be truer than ever with the bizarre event’s 11th incarnation, pushed back a year and a half by the pandemic to become more of a half-year birthday bash, with performers full of pent-up parody and needing to let off excessively silly steam.“This one goes to 11,” crow the evening’s organizers. As ever, the show full of antics is hosted by a Presley impersonator and his sardonic sidekick and femcee Kitty Glitter, providing “a little more conversation” in the form of color commentary throughout.Attendees can expect, to quote the official description, “seven rounds of flimflam fisticuffs [as] the centerpiece of the action, and in between, bouts of burlesque performances [offering] a sexy reprieve from the cartoon-esque violence.”Also, there will be puppets.