Damson Idris’ Miles Davis film sparks backlash over romance with white singer

The first look at “Miles & Juliette” has prompted criticism from viewers questioning which relationships from the jazz legend’s life are being portrayed.

The first image of Damson Idris portraying Miles Davis in the upcoming film “Miles & Juliette” has drawn criticism from social media users who question why the story focuses on the jazz legend’s romance with a French woman. The debate has revived discussion of Davis’ relationships with Black women, including actress Cicely Tyson, who once discussed their marriage, while Idris has continued building his film career following “Snowfall.”

The backlash followed a newly released photo showing Idris alongside Anamaria Vartolomei, who plays French singer and actress Juliette Gréco. Complex reported October 11 that some viewers objected to Miles & Juliette centering this relationship when Davis had three Black wives.“Miles Davis had three Black wives, btw,” one X user wrote. “But this is what Hollyweird chooses to focus on…”

Another commenter questioned why filmmakers chose this period rather than Davis’ long relationship with Tyson, whom he married in 1981. The couple divorced in 1989. Davis was also married to dancer Frances Taylor and musician Betty Davis, formerly Betty Mabry.

The criticism has also brought renewed attention to Davis’ documented abuse of women. Some commenters questioned whether a romantic film about his time in Paris would overlook the more troubling aspects of his personal life.

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Production began in Paris in October. Directed by Bill Pohlad and written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Zora Howard, the upcoming biographical film follows Davis during his first trip outside the United States in 1949. Then 22, he performed at the Paris International Jazz Festival and became involved with Gréco amid the city’s postwar arts scene.

Pohlad has said he was attracted to the brief encounter between the two young artists and the possibilities of telling that particular story. The cast also includes J. Alphonse Nicholson as Kenny Clarke, Terrace Martin as Charlie Parker and Hubert Point-Du Jour as John Coltrane. Robert Glasper is handling the music.

With filming underway, the first-look photo from the Miles Davis film has sparked a broader argument about whose relationships are highlighted when Hollywood tells the stories of influential Black artists.