Since its February 23 premiere, people have had plenty to say about Tyler Perry’s Netflix film, “Mea Culpa,” starring Kelly Rowland and Trevante Rhodes. And unfortunately, most if it, from problems with the plot to unbelievable characters, has not been nice.
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But the Black Internet has also noticed some similarities between Perry’s erotic thriller and “Addicted,” a 2014 Bille Woodruff-directed film starring Boris Kodjoe and Sharon Leal—which was based on Zane’s bestselling 1998 novel. Some are even going as far as saying that the Madea franchise creator completely jacked the author, best known for her steamy titles, including “The Sex Chronicles” and “Dear G Spot,” for her plot.
In “Mea Culpa,” Kelly Rowland plays an attorney who finds herself in a dangerous situation while defending a sexy artist (Rhodes) accused of killing his girlfriend. “Addicted” centers around an art gallery owner who cheats on her husband with a sexy artist.
Some see undeniable similarities in the plot:
“Okay so what I’m getting is a wanna be version of Zane’s Addicted?! Like the whole painting husband is trash love triangle murder situation except she’s a lawyer and Zane’s was a Art Buyer. #MeaCulpa,” wrote @naddyiafashion2 on X.
While others think the only thing the films have in common is artists as main characters.
“honestly, i don’t get the comparisons? other than the fact that both films feature artists in the storyline, what else is the same? Mea wasn’t a s3x addict. the artist wasn’t even the unhinged person. her MIL was terrible & a liar & her husband was in on the scheme with the family. none of that is like addicted. 😭 both good but totally different,” wrote someone on Instagram.
While people are making strong arguments on both sides, we really wanted to hear what Zane, the Queen of Erotica, thinks about it all. Although she doesn’t post much online, she did take time to respond to the Internet chatter in a February 28 Instagram post.
“I feel like I need to make a brief statement. The film adaptation of my novel, ‘Addicted,’ was released in 2014 and is called Addicted,” she wrote. “There seems to be some confusion about that at the moment. Charisse Nesbit and I were the Executive Producers, and it was directed by Billie Woodruff. In addition, and possibly adding to the confusion, I wrote a short, erotic story called “Mea Culpa” in my book “Z-Rated” that came out in 2012. Both are still readily available. Thanks, and have a good evening.”
And there we have it.
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