Quincy Jones Refused To Work With Elvis Presley, Alleging He Was A ‘Racist Motherf**ker’
While speaking with The Hollywood Reporter for their “THR Icons” series, EGOT (Grammy, Emmy, Oscar and Tony Award) winner Quincy Jones admits that he refused to work with fellow icon Elvis Presley, alleging that he was a “racist motherf**ker.”
The music legend recalls a time when he and a collaborator were working together and the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll entered the area. Jones says, “I was writing for [bandleader] Tommy Dorsey, oh God, back then in the ’50s. And Elvis came in, and Tommy said, ‘I don’t want to play with him.’ … He was a racist motherf**er. I’m going to shut up now.”
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In addition to this moment, Jones looked back on another time when he suffered through a racist experience with Truman Capote while producing the score for the movie adaptation of Capote’s ‘In Cold Blood.’ Jones recalls, “[Capote] called [director] Richard Brooks up, he said, ‘Richard, I can’t understand you using a Negro to write music to a film with no people of color in it.’ Richard said, ‘F**k you, he’s doing the score.’ I did, and I got nominated for an Oscar.”