Prior to Lisa Marie Presley’s passing, emails revealed that she tried her hardest to stop the latest movie about her father from being released.
The movie, titled Priscilla, tells the story of how Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley met and details the early years of their relationship. For those who are unaware, Elvis met Priscilla when he was 24 years old and she was just 14.
The former couple knew each other for seven years before they got married and had their only child together, Lisa Marie.
In several interviews, Priscilla adamantly defended her ex-husband against claims that he “groomed” her. In fact, in an interview just last week with Piers Morgan, Priscilla claimed that Elvis didn’t groom her and that he was nothing but a gentleman when Priscilla was only a minor.
“It was a different time,” she told Morgan. “It was the early ’60s.”
But when pushed further by Morgan who said Elvis would be “cancelled” if their relationship had taken place in present times, Priscilla doubled down.
“I understand, but I was 14 in Germany and there was always people around. Our talks were, yes, private but he never, ever, ever was aggressive, nor did he ever make love to me. I was somehow, like I said earlier, someone he trusted to talk to and pour his heart out.”
But this, BuzzFeed reports, is exactly why Lisa Marie attempted to stop the new movie from coming out. According to BuzzFeed and Variety, Lisa Marie feared how her father would be “perceived” by the public and worried that Priscilla didn’t fully understand the “nuance” of the script.
“I feel protective over my mother who has spent her whole life elevating my father’s legacy,” one emails reportedly read. “I am worried she doesn’t understand the intentions behind this film or the outcome it will have.”
The emails in question were reportedly sent by Lisa Marie to the movie’s director Sofia Coppola just four months before her unexpected passing. In the emails she told Sofia that she would publicly go against her and Priscilla if the movie came out, saying that the “vengeful” movie made Elvis “only comes across as a predator and manipulative.”
“As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character,” one email read. “I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why?”
Lisa continued to say that she had to warn her teen daughters about the movie, telling them “there is going to be a movie about her grandfather that is going to try to make him look really, really bad but it’s not true.”
Sofia attempted to ease Lisa Marie’s mind, replying, “I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I’m taking great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity.”
Sadly, Lisa never got the chance to do so.