Iconic comedienne Luenell has revealed that her longstanding feud with Leslie Jones came to an end on the set of Coming 2 America. In an interview with Comedy Hype, Luenell said Jones wasn't initially speaking to her during production and was still holding a grudge from an issue involving Katt Williams.
“It was throwback feelings she had way back when I was on tour with Katt and she was doing some spot dates," the 61-year-old said. "She felt a certain type of way. Big misunderstanding.”
In retrospect, the actress said the issue wasn't as big a deal as it appeared to be. She added that her colleague had a hard time letting go of the dispute.
"Leslie was in her feelings about some things she perceived were being said or being done to her, years ago," the comedienne said. "She is the one who held the grudge. I stand by that. It’s not like we want to go to bed with each other but we certainly should be able to work with each other without all this catty bulls**t. So I think that we have gotten to that point.”
The legendary entertainer said tempers flared on the set of Coming 2 America, causing producers to get involved and get control of the situation.
“We had to play sisters. We had to speak to each other. And actually, production came to me and asked me would I please take her to the side and work out whatever angst it was that she was feeling about me at the time," Luenell said. "So I went to her and told her, at her leisure, would she have a conversation with me. She said, ‘Aight.’ But that still never happened.”
However, the women eventually put aside their differences. Luenell said the turning point happened when she came back to the set one day after taking a short break and noticed a different vibe from her colleague.
"I told her that it was nice to work with her that day," Luenell said. "And we began a conversation. We went back and covered some of the issues that were bothering her from back in the day and we were able to go ahead and shoot some great scenes. We’re still not going to go out and kick it. But at least we won’t have to roll our eyes and avoid each other when we’re in a room now.”
The Coming 2 America star also praised Jones for the work she did on the set.
“As much as it pains me to say, she’s going to be a huge star after this movie comes out because this is probably the best work she’s ever done, in her life, Saturday Night Live included,” Luenell said.
Coming 2 America, the sequel to Eddie Murphy’s 1988 classic, Coming to America, will be released on March 5. Although the film was initially set for theaters, the pandemic forced a change in plans, Cheatsheet reported. The movie is now scheduled to stream on Amazon Prime Video.