The movie poster for YaVaughnie Wilkins' new documentary (21 Tulips)Apparently, putting up $200,000 worth of billboards to shame her former boyfriend wasn't enough. YaVaughnie Wilkins is taking her heartbreak to the silver screen, releasing a documentary, "The Glamorous Lie," about her relationship with former Oracle Corp. President Charles Phillips.
"I agreed to executive produce The Glamorous Lie because I wanted to tell my story in my own way. Media interviews alone would not have done my story justice," Wilkins, 43, said in a press release.
The public airing of dirty laundry began in January 2010, when Wilkins spent a reported $243,000 on several billboards around the country, including in Times Square, attempting to publicly shame Phillips, 53, for ending their eight-year relationship. Her documentary chronicles their relationship and its downfall, featuring interviews with her friends and family.
Phillips, who serves on President Barack Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, reportedly attempted to block the film's release. However, his efforts were unsuccessful and the film premiered on Thursday at the Harlem International Film Festival.
A spokesman for the festival told the New York Daily News that there were initial concerns that Phillips could put the entire venue in jeopardy.
"We were on hold for a while, and the theater where we are screening the world premiere was concerned, but we managed to alleviate the problems," Nasri Zacharia said.
Zacharia said Wilkins has agreed to accept full liability for the film, the Daily Mail reported.
Interestingly, Phillips is not the only one targeted by Wilkins, who has taken the film's director to civil court, alleging that the director conspired with Phillips to sell the film before its release to block distribution.
Also of note, Wilkins says Phillips is a public figure, which makes him fair game for her public criticism. However, in her own press release for the documentary, she described the aftermath of her 2010 billboard display:
"At first, it was funny. I mean, I was just a private citizen, and despite the fact Phillips was a co-president of Oracle, he was extremely private so who would care, right?"
"But, three hours after the first billboard went up in Times Square, a question was posted to Gawker: Hey, is that the Charles Phillips that runs Oracle? All hell broke loose."