Yahoo News Amy Winehouse’s ex-husband says he’s not let off the hook in Back to Black
Blake Fielder-Civil reacts to the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black
Watch Amy Winehouse's ex-husband reaction to Back to Black
What did you miss?
Amy Winehouse's ex love Blake Fielder-Civil has insisted he is "not being let off the hook" or "whitewashed" in the new biopic Back to Black.
There was an outpouring of sadness when Winehouse died aged 27 of alcohol poisoning in July 2011. More than a decade later, female director Sam Taylor-Johnson has shone a light on the legendary Winehouse again with the biopic.
The late singer's ex-husband praised the film for showing a "more accurate representation of their relationship". Fielder-Civil and Winehouse's stormy love story is front and centre of the new movie about the singer's musical legacy.
What, how and why?
Getting straight to the heart of the story on the sofa, Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway asked him: "What did you make of it?"
Fielder-Civil said seeing a film about someone you loved and seeing yourself in it is a "surreal" experience. He said: "It was a surreal watch. But when I’m watching the film, firstly I have to watch it from my point of view as someone I was married, I’m looking at it at someone I wasn’t just friends with Amy, we were married, we were together, we were deeply in love from that to the addiction."
While the film was at times hard to watch for him, he said it showed a more "accurate" portrayal of his relationship with Winehouse. He said: "There were some difficult parts to process. It was almost therapeutic in a way. There were some parts that felt like it was allowing me to see a more accurate representation of the relationship.
"Not being let off the hook or whitewashed as alluded to the comments that people have made. It wasn’t all about addiction. As much as might have been the salacious headlines and the paparazzi’s goal. There was addiction but the relationship started as every relationship does."
Garraway said a lot of people had said the director had turned him into a "Disney prince" for the movie, while acknowledging that many people had blamed Fielder-Civil for drawing her into her addictions. "She said it was important to show how you fell in love, the chemistry, did you see that in the movie?" Garraway asked.
Fielder-Civil agreed saying: "They weren't interested in repeating that." He praised Jack O'Connell, the actor who played him, for coming to meet him in person. "He's a really good guy," he said. "Not asking for notes, just out of a respect thing. To be polite. They made it clear they weren't interested in rehashing that story."
He added: "What Sam said was kind of a nice quote, if Amy wrote this album that everybody loved so much about this person, and Amy is known for being intelligent and not suffering fools and strong, there must be a bit more to the relationship than just an adult user or whatever I was portrayed as someone who was leading Amy sinisterly into addiction, which wasn’t the case."
What else did Blake Fielder-Civil say?
Good Morning Britain's Adil Ray shared his sympathies with Winehouse's ex-husband saying that when you lose a loved one everyone feels "we could have done more". He sensitively tackled the hard question: "Do you feel any responsibility?"
"It’s human nature," agreed Fielder-Civil. "Of course many times. I’ve said that. I don't speak about it often. I do. I felt I’d done nothing but try to take responsibility for quite a long time. It’s a cross to bare. It’s impacted on me. I’ve had death threats online, social media still. Amy inspires a lot of fierce fandom and devotion. I don't feel blame."
Ray asked him if there was something he wished he had done differently. "There are certain aspects in the film when I'm watching it," he said. "It would be the same for anyone."
Garraway jumped in to say: "One of those things must have been introducing her to heroin, that's got to be a big regret."
Fielder-Civil said: "A regret you were using it at the time and a regret you introduced it to her. Yeah I sense that the idea of heroin, it’s a horrible terrible drug. I've been clean for years myself. I was in addiction as well.
"It’s not as black and white as that. I was a very young person i thought i had all the answers. Of course i regret any drugs. If i had known it was going to develop i would have been far more careful. I had no one looking out for me either."
