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PSYCHIC NETWORK

Source: Miami Herald / Getty

 

The internet has been buzzing about a forthcoming documentary based on the famous TV psychic Miss Cleo.

The “Queen of clairvoyance” reigned supreme throughout the ’90s helping to predict people’s futures through her pay-per-call service, the Psychic Readers Network. However, in 2002, the ubiquitous tarot card reader’s career came crashing down when the Federal Trade Commission named her a prime suspect of a billion-dollar fraud investigation. The government agency accused Miss Cleo and its owners of “deceptive advertising, billing, and collection practices,” Deadline reported.

Peabody-award-winning director Senain Kheshgi will direct the documentary with help from nonfiction entertainment studio XTR and production company Majority, Deadline confirmed. Kheshgi will interview people who were close to Cleo about her thriving career and investigate what led to the cultural icon’s spiraling fall.

The Jamaican star, whose real name was Youree Dell Harris, died at the age of 53 following a tough battle with cancer in 2016. While Harris’ name was embroiled in scandalous headlines towards the end of her superstardom, Kheshgi said it’s important to remember the immense impact that she made as a Black woman on television.

“Youree Harris may have been an accomplice or perhaps a victim in the Psychic Reader’s Network fraud but she also had talent and personality, which for women doesn’t always translate into access or wealth,” Kheshgi said in a statement. “Her story is an example of how brown and Black women have historically been marginalized and exotified in society and popular culture. The enduring image of the dark, mystical woman still continues to perpetuate this stereotype. As a woman of color and a director who wants to explore stories from diverse perspectives, I am moved by how Youree found a way to navigate her life on her own terms.”

No release date has been announced quite yet for the project, but we have a strong premonition that it will be coming soon.

 

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