Patti LaBelle and Luther Vandross were close personal friends for decades.
Patti LaBelle adored Luther Vandross and supported him right up until the end. However, viewers of CNN’s Luther Vandross documentary “Never Too Much,” which aired on New Year’s Day, may not walk away with that understanding.
Sources close to the matter told Page Six LaBelle is heartbroken about being portrayed in the film as one of the main sources of rumors about his sexuality.
The documentary, which chronicles Vandross’ life and iconic career, also includes a clip from a 2017 interview on “Watch What Happens Live,” in which LaBelle seemingly confirmed the rumors.
The film’s depiction is particularly distressing to the 80-year-old “If You Only Knew” singer because, according to the sources, she invited producers into her home and gave them an hour-long interview about her relationship with the late R&B icon.
The publication learned her interview was cut when she refused to sign a release after her request to see a final cut was denied. The sources further shared that while some of the film’s producing team were against her seeing the final cut, some felt it was a reasonable request. Additionally, some of the film’s producers allegedly had misgivings about including the 2017 WWHL clip.
During a screening of the documentary at the Tribeca film festival last year, Page Six learned the clip received boos from the audience.
LaBelle has yet to see the documentary, according to the sources, who posit that she was ultimately used “as a villain when she supported [Luther] up to the very end.”
LaBelle wasn’t just close with her musical peer; she was also close with his family and came to their aid after his stroke. The documentary also includes footage of LaBelle singing at Vandross’ 2005 funeral.
The doc ends the brief segment about Vandross’ romantic life with an interview of the musical icon telling the world to mind its business.
“Questions about my sexuality, well I suppose, will just always be questions,” he said.
“Let me tell you who I owe answers to: What I owe you is my music, my talent, my best effort… that’s all,” he continued. “I will neither deny or confirm that any such rumors about personal things like that are true or untrue. I won’t give the satisfaction of a denial because that is a submission of sort. I won’t even address it. I’ll just say, ‘Mind your f–king business.’ That’s my response to that.”
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