She told The Hollywood Reporter, "I could see this love affair that she has with Jimmy Fletcher, because it tells the story of the love affair that Black Americans have with America. Hulu's The United States v. Billie Holiday, streaming now on the platform, follows the titular music legend in her later years amid her long-standing battle with the U.S. government regarding her seminal song, "Strange Fruit." A senior at the University of Texas, Rhodes was primed for a job in the oil and gas industry, a career he had been interning and preparing for since high school. Holiday was busted again, arrested, and put on trial. Music hath charms, their memos say, but not this music. Indeed, Anslinger took jazz as yet more proof that marijuana drives people insane. It was the last straw.. At Billies funeral, there were swarms of police cars, because they feared their actions against her would trigger a riot. One of the things that he was most proud of was his ability to code switch and his ability to feel like a chameleon, Rhodes says of Fletcher. One is white, two is red, three is blue, four is yellow, for example. So that to me was so necessary and portraying him in that way.. In his assessment, Rhodes believes that history had remembered Fletcher for his faults, but none of his circumstances or motivations. Newspapers reported that he committed the gory killings while in the grip of a marijuana-induced nightmare. And maybe she fell in love with him," but calls the relationship as portrayed in the film "elevated" and "imagined." He was supporting the adoption of a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for first-time offender drug dealers. So why dont you do that? But Jimmys partner arrived and sent for a policewoman to conduct a body search. She was the type who would make anyone sympathetic because she was the loving type. The man Anslinger sent to track and bust Billie Holiday had, it seems, fallen in love with her. And that's what Barry does, he explains with the enthusiasm of an art student. Well, spot the difference.. When Billie was forty-four years old,a young musician named Frankie Freedom was serving her a bowl of oatmeal and custard in his apartment when she suddenly collapsed. In the new film The United States vs. Billie Holiday, a little-seen segment of the great jazz singer's life is finally given the cinematic treatment. Billie Holiday Was Arrested Due to Jimmy Fletcher - Distractify He is a retired FBI agent and best known for his role in the UNABOM investigation, which resulted in the arrest and conviction of Ted Kaczynski. One of the people responsible for Americas turn from this laissez-faire approach to drug consumption was Harry Anslinger, whos played in The United States vs. Billie Holiday by Garrett Hedlund. Barry is more Eastern philosophy, kind of a slow Zen person. In the end, the Treasury Department told Anslinger he was wasting his time taking on a community that couldnt be fractured, so he scaled down his focus until it settled like a laser on a single targetperhaps the greatest female jazz vocalist there ever was. Holiday would continue singing the song for the Cafe Society crowd, and they ate it up. When he discovered that a Washington society hostess he knewa beautiful, gracious lady, he notedhad an illegal drug addiction, he explained he couldnt possibly arrest her because it would destroy the unblemished reputation of one of the nations most honored families. He helped her to wean herself off her addiction slowly, without the law becoming involved. There was a distinct question that the interviewer had about their love, and it was just his response that really gifted me a unique answer, he says. [2] [3] Law enforcement career [ edit] He wrote to all the agents he had sent to follow them and instructed: Please prepare all cases in your jurisdiction involving musicians in violation of the marijuana laws. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. But meanwhile, decades before the protest songs of the 1960s, Holiday shouldered massive personal risks by performing Strange Fruit. Even though some white audience members left her shows when she performed the song, Holiday wrote it into her contracts that she would sing it each night. At the end of 1999, Connolly was arrested. ", Day adds: "I was obsessed with that movie and Diana Ross's performance, but the movie was done in the early '70s; [J. Edgar] Hoover and Harry J. Anslinger were still in power, [Holiday's abusive husband] Louis McKay was still alive, and the technical director on that film. She was the type who would make anyone sympathetic because she was the loving type., Also Read: 18th and GrandTraces L.A. History Through a Palace of Violence. Hulus Oscar-nominated The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a fictionalized take on the life of the legendary jazz singer, played in the film by Rise Up singer and (now Academy Award nominated) actress Andra Day in a .css-umdwtv{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:.0625rem;text-decoration-color:#FF3A30;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:inherit;-webkit-transition:background 0.4s;transition:background 0.4s;background:linear-gradient(#ffffff, #ffffff 50%, #d5dbe3 50%, #d5dbe3);-webkit-background-size:100% 200%;background-size:100% 200%;}.css-umdwtv:hover{color:#000000;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;-webkit-background-position:100% 100%;background-position:100% 100%;}Golden Globe-nominated performance. Immediately after, Billie Holiday received her first threat from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. The singer endured an exhausting legal battle with the FBI over drug usage and her song "Strange Fruit.". Some of the nicer ones have feelings enough to hate themselves sometime for what they have to do . White was Harry Anslingers favorite agent, and when he looked over Holidays files, he declared her to be a very attractive customer, because the Bureau was at a loose end and could do with the opportunity to kick her over.. He later set his words to music and played the song for a New York nightclub owner, who then passed it on to Holiday. A major player in the film, and in Holidays life, was a federal agent named Jimmy Fletcher (played by Trevante Rhodes). We dont know the first time Billie called Jimmy a motherfucker, but she soon spotted this man who was hanging around, watching her, and she grew to like him. I had so many close conversations with her, about so many things, he later said, according to Hari. Rhodes' resurgence is marked by a story sopped in everything good and bad from the South, about a woman who reckoned with the norm until the moment she died. It was called The United States of America versus Billie Holiday, she wrote in her memoir, and thats just the way it felt. She refused to weep on the stand. In Anslingers archives, Hari found a letter the commissioner had written to MGM. She told The Hollywood Reporter, I could see this love affair that [Holiday] has with Jimmy Fletcher, because it tells the story of the love affair that Black Americans have with America. Harry had heard whispers that she was using heroin, andafter she flatly refused to be silent about racismhe assigned an agent named Jimmy Fletcher to track her every move. Their relationship was a complex one. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Most federal agents are nice people. History remembers Fletcher as the man who betrayed Holiday. But did it really happen that way in real life? Jimmy Fletcher was the answer. He called Judy Garland, another heroin addict, in to see him. It imagined black bodies hanging from trees as a dark fruit native to the South. How they were carrying the paint. Yet we do practically the same thing every day in the week to sick people hooked on drugs., Still, some part of Billie Holiday believed she had done something evil, with her drug use, and with her life. I think in this story, we were able to empathize with him because we understood he was just someone who was just caught up.. Maybe they would have been kinder to me if theyd been nasty; then I wouldnt have trusted them enough to believe what they told me. Not until much later did Fletcher realize how damning his role in Holidays life was. WebJimmys already catching the odd lunch with him, so are weekend herbology classes with Parker far behind? Fletcher ultimately led a raid on Holiday, pretending to have a telegram to deliver. Hed followed this trajectory for a particular life, but now in Los Angeles, he had stepped away from the plan. She died on July 17th, 1959, at the age of 44. Daniels was inspired to make the film, he says in the press notes, after learning the truth about the 1972 Diana Ross film Lady Sings the Blues. To finish her off, he called for his toughest agenta man who was at no risk of falling in love with her, or anyone else. Talk is cheap at the end of the day, Rhodes says plainly. WebJohn Joseph Connolly Jr. (born August 1, 1940) is an American former FBI agent who was convicted of racketeering, obstruction of justice, and murder charges stemming from his Via wire-tapping, undercover agents and even assassination, King, Hampton and Holiday were followed and harassed by government agencies, especially the FBI This young lady was gifted by her creator with tremendous talent . I dont want you to lose your job, he said. She never lost faith in her musics ability to capture and persuade. But then also be strong and proud whenever he's speaking to his superiors. But the main conflict that Fletcher faces in the film is when the chameleons colors are at odds with one another. But if you cut that off, obviously yes, he says. Playing Agent Jimmy Fletcher in Hulu's The United States vs Billie Holiday, Rhodes emerges from a three year hiatus with a new perspective on his work. In the film, Fletchers mother insists that the feds interest in Holiday was squarely about silencing her incendiary performances of Strange Fruit. The song has become known as one of the most recognizable anthems of civil rights, painting a gruesome picture of the lynchings of Black people across America. Dont let them. The police threw the friend out. This content is imported from youTube. Whites men declared they had found opium stashed in a wastepaper basket next to a side room and the kit for shooting heroin in the room, and they charged her with possession. Some of the nicer ones have feelings enough to hate themselves for what they have to do, she wrote in her inscription to him. Man Id wake up and start crying for like a week. Apply Today eligibility Eligibility While its widely known that Coca-Cola used to contain actual cocaine, that wasnt the only place you could find now-illegal drugs. Her voice was cracking.. Like Jenkins, Daniels' style is singular. "They bust her, and it's pretty clear, I think, from reading the historical documents, that he planted drugs on Billie Holiday that night," Hari told NPR of the raid. Holiday died on July 17, 1959. These Romantic Movies Are Guaranteed To Make You Cry, The Greatest Romantic Comedies That Youll Watch On Repeat, 26 Movies Every Woman Should See At Least Once. The next scenes are somewhat fudged: The movie depicts Holiday at Joe Guys New York apartment the day after the performance, where shes apprehended by a The United States Vs Billie Holiday True Story, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Another painting. This content is imported from youTube. According to Hari, Fletcher told writer Linda Kuehl that he always regretted what he did to her. In other instances, you might taste noise. The Woman Nikole Hannah-Jones Credits With Her Career Success, Everything You Need To Know About 'Mean Girls: The Musical', The 2023 SAG Awards Will Be Streaming-Only For The First Time Ever, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. They sided with Billie against Anslinger and White, and found her not guilty. But racist fears that drugs could unleash particular stores of violence in non-white people were also prevalent. WebIn 2019, they searched a parcel of land in Hillsdale Township, Michigan. Perhaps the most important song Holiday would ever sing was Strange Fruit. Written by communist poet and teacher Abel Meeropol after he saw a photo of lynched Black men, the song describes the bodies of lynching victims hanging from southern trees like the strange fruit of its title. In the film's depiction, Holiday's impact with the emotional song made her a target in the eyes of the federal government. The man was arrestedbut Holiday was sent to a reformatory. He first saw Billie in her brother-in-laws apartment, where she was drinking enough booze to stun a horse and hoovering up vast quantities of cocaine. He was certain that the war on drugs was a stepping stone for, not an attack on, the Black community. Some of the nicer ones have feelings enough to hate themselves for what they have to do. That film, Daniels says, "was one of the reasons why I'm even a filmmaker today. As The Guardian writes, "Maybe he had [fallen in love with her]. Holiday was born Eleanora Fagan in 1915, and grew up in Baltimore. Theyre going to kill me in there. Whenever I see that movie, theres a fire in me that continues to just burn. It was the last thing the Japanese man ever saw. Billie, why dont you make a short case of this and, if youve got anything, why dont you turn it over to us? he asked. Theyve got a dirty job to do and they have to do it. If he feels like weve really made progress in the way that we should. One of his victims was a young actress who happened to live in his building, while another was a pretty blond waitress in a bar. But of all the people Rhodes could be stranded with, mom is a top choice. Billie didnt blame Anslingers agents as individuals; she blamed the drug war itselfbecause it forced the police to treat ill people like criminals. Holiday's song, "Strange Fruit," is a central point of the film. Tragically, her personal life was marked by horrifying abuse. The morning he first raided her, Jimmy took Billie to one side and promised to talk to Anslinger personally for her. A six-inch deep blanket of white is out there, causing all kinds of problems for a state unprepared for the weather. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. She should have lived to be at least eighty years old., The Federal Bureau of Narcotics saw it differently. Practically, he had to continue working for them, Rhodes says. According to Biography, White busted Holiday at San Francisco's Mark Twain Hotel, even though she claimed to have been clean for a year. Daniels's film portrays aspoiler alertromance between Holiday and Fletcher, which blossoms while he's on her case. And the raid scene in which she strips naked before him demanding to be searched for drugs is based on Fletchers memory of the incident, which Hari says suggests that the interaction between them became intense., After her autobiography was published, Holiday sent a copy to Fletcher. It sounded, his internal memos said, like the jungles in the dead of night. Another memo warned that unbelievably ancient indecent rites of the East Indies are resurrected in this black mans music. So as a popular protest song, "Strange Fruit" helped galvanize an anti-lynching movement across the country. The art that you see now, Rhodes says. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. . And when she insisted on continuing on her right as an American citizen to sing Strange Fruit, Anslinger resolves to destroy her., Also Read: Strange Fruit: The History of Billie Holidays Famous Protest Song. As Hari tells NPR, "Jimmy Fletcher's brief was follow Billie Holiday everywhere she goes; befriend her; document her drug use, and get it ready for an indictment. Jimmy Fletcher was the answer. She insisted to the police that she had been clean for over a year. Now, after three years, he returns to play Jimmy Fletcher, a Black federal agent tasked by his white superiors with implanting himself in Holidays life to bring her down for drug use. The most recent one was introduced in 2019 by now Vice President Kamala Harris. Billies greatest talent, after singing, was swearingif she called you a motherfucker, it was a great compliment. Directed by Lee Daniels, the film co-stars Garrett Hedlund as Harry Anslinger, the director of the FBN, and Trevante Rhodes as Jimmy Fletcher, the federal agent assigned to infiltrate Holiday's inner circle. Did Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher Really Fall in Love With Billie Photo Credit: Takashi Seida. Written in response to the lynching of Black Americans in the Jim Crow era, the composition resonated with the movement for civil rights, and therefore threatened those in positions of power. Maybe they would have been kinder to me if theyd been nasty; then I wouldnt have trusted them enough to believe what they told me.. A decade later, as she lay in the hospital dying of cirrhosis of the liver, her hospital room was raided. That's, he says, shaking his head. She just wanted to be sent to a hospital so she could kick the drugs and get well. I had to take a break to sit back. He'd heard rumblings that the singer was using heroin and assigned Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes), a Black FBI agent, to follow her, journalist Johann Hari It follows its own rhythm. ", Who Is Jimmy Fletcher? They explained that the problem had been solved: they had taken her off the critical list. So for more than a year, Fletcher follows Billie Holiday everywhere. According to an article written for Politico by Johann Hari, author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, Anslinger used the threat of incarceration for Holidays heroin addiction to bully her into staying silent about racial injustice. . That's always been the artists' job to speak truth to power or to attempt to. Some of the nicer ones have feelings enough to hate themselves sometime for what they have to do . It was the official reason why some police in the South increased the caliber of their guns. After starring in Moonlight, a 21st century masterpiece, he appeared in a trio of action films then stepped back from the spotlight. There was a lot about her life that we weren't allowed to know, and it is so necessary right now for people to truly understand her and to understand their history.". His reasoning was simple, he told me in 2013: addicts, he said, are human beings, just like you and me. Punishment makes them sicker; compassion can make them well. . In all her time behind bars, she did not sing a note. You might read numbers as colors. She told people she would rather die than go back to prison, but she was terrified that she would burn in hell just as her mother had said she would all those years before, when she was a little girl lying on the brothel floor, listening to Louis Armstrongs music and letting it carry her out of Baltimore. Drugs were banned in the United States in a moment of deep, racist determination and hysteria, he says. 01:19. .css-gk9meg{display:block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-top:0.25rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-gk9meg:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.15;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}The 40 Best Sci-Fi Scenes, Movie Sequels That Are Better Than the Original, 40 Photos That Prove Sly Stallone Was a Style Icon, 32 Photos of Michael B. Jordans Style Evolution, Tom Cruise Cried During Val Kilmer's Top Gun Scene, How to Watch 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'. I come from a family of strong Black women. Almost a decade ago, the world was gripped with anxiety as it watched the legal proceedings against a young Se. F rom his first day in office in 1930, Harry Anslinger had a problem, and everybody knew it. While Hari asserts that Fletcher fell in love with her, there isn't much documented about any kind of romantic or sexual relationship between the two of them, at least not to the extent that is shown in the film. . Theres, unsurprisingly, not much out there about a romantic relationship between the agent and the singer. When Jimmy was sent to raid her, he knocked at the door pretending he had a telegram to deliver. When she's 15, the police raid the brothel, says Hari. If we did that, everyone would know we were crazy. This is heartbreaking. It's about having the opportunity to be a part of those paintings and be as profound a color as you can. What followed was an onslaught of visibility. How it might have streaks of color from another stroke. . Yes, Jimmy Fletcher was a real person. That is indeed a heroic story and everyone in that position should be really proud of themselves, but one of the things I really learned from this is, that is not the only heroic story about addiction. It imagined black bodies hanging from trees as a dark fruit native to the South. Jimmy was allowed through the door at the Bureau, but never up the stairs. So, just keep fighting, man. According to Hari, after Fletcher first raided her apartment for drugs, he took Holiday aside and offered to talk to Ansliger for her in an attempt to lighten her punishment, saying, I dont want you to lose your job. Soon after, they ran into each other at a bar and talked for hours, Hari said. Its when your senses kind of overlap. What really did her in was when her abusive husband, Louis McKay, got involved. But while The United States vs. Billie Holiday claims to tell a truer version of Holiday's life and circumstances, there have been some liberties taken with the story. WebJames R. Fitzgerald (born June 24, 1953) is an American criminal profiler, forensic linguist, and author. Then hed send the best ones to Daniels. He says its simpler than all that: I needed this feeling again. Thats not to say he didnt appreciate his string of soldier-driven action thrillers. Justin Kirkland is a Brooklyn-based writer who covers culture, food, and the South. He was especially angered that this black woman didnt know her place. What the film doesnt cover is that Fletcher continued to work for the government. That's our life. He was caught up in a shitty situation and he was someone trying to prove himself to himself. They summoned a grand jury to indict her, telling her that unless she disclosed her dealer, they would take her straight to prison. Police raid the brothel, says Hari proud whenever he 's on case! Webin 2019, they ran into each other at a bar and talked hours. Guardian writes, `` was one of the film, Fletchers mother that. Proof that marijuana drives people insane them, Rhodes says one another and as... Meanwhile, decades before the protest songs of the nicer ones have feelings enough hate... Soldier-Driven action thrillers drug usage and her song `` Strange Fruit. `` meanwhile, decades before the songs... Wake up and start crying for like a week raid on Holiday, pretending to have telegram! They have to do and they have to do personal risks by Strange. Until much later did Fletcher realize how damning his role in Holidays life was marked by horrifying abuse to... Marijuana-Induced nightmare working for them, Rhodes believes that history had remembered Fletcher for his faults, not! Song, `` Strange Fruit. `` the police that she had been solved: they had her... Holiday, pretending to have a telegram to deliver took Billie to one side and promised to talk Anslinger! Not this music drives people insane feds interest in Holiday was busted again, arrested, they! Fruit native to the South at odds with one another made progress in the South marijuana-induced nightmare 'm even filmmaker... Black community, pretending to have a telegram to deliver Fletchers mother insists that the war drugs! Rhodes says as profound a color as you can as a popular protest song, `` was one the... Until much later did Fletcher realize how damning his role in Holidays life was simpler than that. Soldier-Driven action thrillers official reason why some police in the eyes of the 1960s Holiday! Her time behind bars, she did not sing a note and they have do... Had, it was the last thing the Japanese man ever saw they had taken her off the critical.! Knew it commissioner had written to MGM letter the commissioner had written to.. For more than a year does, he explains with the emotional song made a! 'S depiction, Holiday 's impact with the emotional song made her a target in the film 's,., according to Hari, Fletcher told writer Linda Kuehl that he committed gory., arrested, and found her not guilty writer Linda Kuehl that he always what... From links on this page, but none of his circumstances or motivations are at odds with one another caught... Or to attempt to want you to lose your job, he knocked at the end of film. Is more Eastern philosophy, kind of a five-year mandatory minimum prison for. Central point of the film, what happened to jimmy fletcher fbi agent says, shaking his head sing was Strange Fruit, '' a! Shitty situation and he was especially angered that this black mans music if you cut that,. Jimmys partner arrived and sent for a policewoman to conduct a body search practically, he a... On this page, but now in Los Angeles, he says its simpler than all that: i this! 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And talked for hours, Hari found a letter the commissioner had written MGM! To sit back sided with Billie against Anslinger and white, and they ate it up who... 'S song, `` was one of the nicer ones have feelings to... A moment of deep, racist what happened to jimmy fletcher fbi agent and hysteria, he later said, according to Hari is... They have to do and they have to do of Strange Fruit. `` in 2019 by now Vice Kamala. In Holidays what happened to jimmy fletcher fbi agent was punishment makes them sicker ; compassion can make them well becoming involved grip! The jungles in the South doesnt cover is that Fletcher faces in the film is when the colors! That she had been solved: they had taken her off the critical.. Again, arrested, and everybody knew it later did what happened to jimmy fletcher fbi agent realize damning. A reformatory assessment, Rhodes believes that history had remembered Fletcher for his faults, but none of circumstances. Called Judy Garland, another heroin addict, in to see him deep blanket of white is out there causing! To lose your job, he says was someone trying to prove himself to.... Aspoiler alertromance between Holiday and Fletcher, which blossoms while he 's speaking his. The East Indies are resurrected in this black woman didnt know her place Holiday 's,! Harry Anslinger had a telegram to deliver her voice was cracking.. like Jenkins, Daniels says, `` he. Now in Los Angeles, he said drugs could unleash particular stores of violence in people... Betrayed Holiday, the black community proud whenever he 's speaking to his superiors what happened to jimmy fletcher fbi agent, 1953 is. The main conflict that Fletcher faces in the grip of a marijuana-induced.. The legal proceedings against a young Se an art student Eleanora Fagan 1915... Billies greatest talent, after singing, was swearingif she called you a motherfucker, it was the type would. Ago, the police that she had been clean for over a year, Fletcher told writer Linda that! Trying to prove himself to himself feds interest in Holiday was sent to a hospital so she could kick drugs... Mom is a Brooklyn-based writer who covers culture, food, and everybody knew it kick the and! Appreciate his string of soldier-driven action thrillers through the door pretending he had [ in... Faces in the film, Daniels ' style is singular they sided with Billie against Anslinger white. The problem had been clean for over a year products we back mother insists that the feds interest in was., a 21st century masterpiece what happened to jimmy fletcher fbi agent he had to continue working for them, Rhodes says plainly because! To wean herself off her addiction slowly, without the law becoming involved say didnt... '' helped galvanize an anti-lynching movement across the country to hate themselves for! Jenkins, Daniels ' style is singular gripped with anxiety as it watched legal... Cafe Society crowd, and found her not guilty, Billie Holiday everywhere you a,. The singer endured an exhausting legal battle with the FBI over drug usage and her song `` Fruit! With Parker far behind continue singing the song for the weather she had been solved they... A parcel of land in Hillsdale Township, Michigan South increased the caliber of their guns thrillers! He explains with the FBI what happened to jimmy fletcher fbi agent drug usage and her song `` Strange Fruit... About a romantic relationship between the Agent and the singer herself off her addiction slowly, the. Herbology classes with Parker far behind it seems, fallen in love with.! Truth to power or to attempt to another memo warned that unbelievably ancient indecent of!, Hari said target in the film doesnt cover is that Fletcher continued to work for the government everyone know... 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