The Clark Sisters biopic was a huge success for Lifetime, making it the highest-rated movie for the network in four years. Still, viewers have been left with many questions following the biopic centered on the singing group that popularized gospel in mainstream music.
One of the most puzzling moments of the Lifetime film was Denise Clark-Bradford fleeing the gospel group and fracturing her connection with her family in the process. Since the film didn’t go into much detail about what happened to Clark-Bradford, many fans wanted to know if the sisters were ever able to put the pieces back together.
Clark-Bradford’s niece Kierra Sheard, who’s also Karen Clark-Sheard’s daughter and portrayed the gospel singer in the film, recently revealed the current state of Clark-Bradford’s relationship with the family.
“We’ve tried reaching out to my aunt,” Sheard told Shadow and Act, adding that attempts to integrate her back into the fold have “not been the smoothest event or experience.”
Still, it seems Sheard and her aunt have a positive relationship with the Grammy Award–winning singer even complimenting her aunt’s personality. “She’s super vibrant. When I talked to her the first time, it was super fun,” she recalled.
For her part, Clark-Bradford recently wished her niece a happy birthday on social media, writing: “KIERRA, HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!AUNTIE ❣️ Y-O-U.”
One of the reasons Sheard was so eager to reach out to her aunt and establish a relationship was the similarities her mother saw between them.
“She has often said that I remind her a lot of my aunt…because I’m talkative, I like to be informed, I like to read and she says I’m well-spoken,” Sheard said. “But [the] relationship [with Denise] is distant, I’ll say that, but we connected with her children.”
It’s Sheard’s hope that all of the Clark Sisters will reunite one day. “I think that would be super dope. We’ve just got to make sure everybody’s on one accord,” she said.
It appears Clark-Bradford didn’t mind being portrayed in the biopic, praising actress Raven Goodwin last year for being cast on social media, calling her “beautiful” and “talented.” Still, she took issue that some of her contributions weren’t being written into the biopic.
“I would’ve loved to have met you and actually get a chance to talk and bond. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed that chance,” she wrote on Instagram back in April 2019, when Goodwin’s casting was announced. “I would have loved to share a few things with you such as how at times I made up choreography for the group like the 1983 Grammy performance & a few others.”
Clark-Bradford said she also wished the film would’ve shown the “undeniable love” she had for her late father, Pastor Elbert Clark, and her experience being “the mother of 7 handsome, all successful men.”