Tomi Adeyemi has publicly distanced herself from the film adaptation of Children of Blood and Bone, saying she will not promote or watch it. In messages shared to TikTok, the author said she has been “attacked behind the scenes” and is stepping back from the project.
The Paramount film is scheduled to arrive on 15 January 2027 and is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. The cast includes Amandla Stenberg, Thuso Mbedu, Tosin Cole, Damson Idris, Cynthia Erivo, Lashana Lynch, Regina King, Idris Elba, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Viola Davis.
What Adeyemi said
Adeyemi’s posts included what appeared to be messages sent to Stenberg in February 2025, including the line, “Do not ever use my name in an interview or video again. Do not text me. Do not call me.” She also wrote, “I have not seen the film, and I will not watch it,” adding that she was “laying down my sword and officially separating my name.”
She said the decision came after she could no longer keep being “hurt and attacked behind the scenes.” In the same comments, she added that she did not mind people going to see the film, saying, “I wrote this for us. I fought for us.”
Why the dispute became public
The messages appear to date from the period when Stenberg responded to criticism over colorism linked to her casting as Princess Amari. In the book, the character is described as having “dark copper skin,” while Stenberg is biracial.
After some fans questioned whether she was the right choice, Stenberg responded in a now-deleted TikTok to what she described as the “perception of me that I steal roles from dark-skinned women.” She also said Amari was described as having lighter skin that stands out from the “darker chestnut and mahogany hues” of other characters.
The book’s wider legacy
Children of Blood and Bone is the first novel in Adeyemi’s Legacy of Orïsha series and became a major bestseller after its 2018 release. It debuted at number one on the New York Times’s Young Adult bestsellers list, and Adeyemi was later named to Forbes’s 30 Under 30 list.
Adeyemi has previously said the book was written to reflect Black teenage girls who grew up reading stories that did not include them. In an earlier interview with the Guardian around the novel’s release, she said the story was meant to tell readers, “you are seen.”
The Guardian has approached Stenberg’s representative, Paramount and Prince-Bythewood for comment.