https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1m7TYVZQ40
In November, David Cassidy passed away at the age of 67. In the months before he died, he worked on an album with a band, and let a camera crew into his life. This Monday, David Cassidy: The Last Session is going to air and his ex-wife has some things to say about it.
Sue Shifrin, whose divorce to him was finalized 2 years ago, wrote, “I have been inundated with comments re upcoming A&E special about @davidcassidyfan. I rarely comment personally on such matters, however I cannot tell you how sad & disappointed we are that A&E chose to air this special that noone in the Cassidy Family sanctioned or wanted aired. This program is exploitive & sensational. Everyone who participated were interested in only one thing….in their 15 secs of fame. Shame on A&E and all involved.”
Danny Bonaduce, who was his costar on The Partridge Family, responded to her Tweet with, “Dear Sue, Sorry to hear my 15 min are just about up. I kind of knew. There was a Cassidy involved, his name was David. He asked me to participate & I was happy to do it for him. I don’t see any shame in speaking fondly about David. My best to you & Beau.”
Yesterday, I watched the special and I did not find it disrespectful to him as a whole. That clip that they sent out to the press was and it only airs in the final minutes of the show. The biography started filming him in September and he is getting tested to find out if he has Dementia because he says he was having memory problems. They do find there is something going on, but they will need to do more tests.
Then the special talks about his life, or lack thereof one with his father, Jack Cassidy. The album is full of songs that were special to him and his dad. In between recording the tunes, he told stories about his father.
We do not only hear about his dad, they also talk about him becoming an overnight sensation. They also show how his life changed dramatically when he became Keith Partridge. He had to lead a squeaky-clean life and yet he did not have one because he could not go anywhere in public without being attacked by fans. You see the great lengths they went to, to keep his admirers away from him.
Besides showing flashbacks, you see him recording with the band. This is where Shifrin might have a point. It is not easy to watch him because you can tell he is pain and it is hard for him to walk at times. Throughout all of the pain, he kept working because of the work ethic his dad instilled in him. After a few days, the pain is so bad he cannot record anymore. The band tries to get him to go to the hospital and he refuses. When he cannot fly back to Florida because of the pain, that is when he decides to go to the hospital. Shortly after they drop him off, is when they get the phone call that we all heard yesterday.
At no point in the special do you see him drinking. In fact, he even says he is clean when he goes to the doctor. The first time you hear that he was drinking was at the end of the special. I think that it shows what his last few weeks were like and how hard they were on him emotionally and physically. I do not think they exploited him as much as other specials have done to other celebrities or how much the telemovie based on his life did. However, I only saw him in a Broadway play once and spent a few hours interviewing him for a sitcom he was doing with his brothers, Shaun and Patrick, who are not in the special at all. I have a special place in my heart for him, but nowhere near as special as they do. Thus, what they might not want it to air.
When it comes to Bonaduce, he was very respectful of his old friend and he is shown that way. The radio DJ talks about how Cassidy took him out on tour with him in the early ’80s to get Bonaduce off of the dangerous path he was going down. Bonaduce also says that he cannot understand how Dementia can cause your organs to fail. Even he did not know about the drinking. I do not think anyone did until yesterday.
I get why Shifrin and his family do not want it to air. I can also see why the fans of his would want to see it. It is an intimate look at the last few weeks of his life. Personally, I think some of the E! True Hollywood Specials and VH1 Behind the Musics were more exploitative to celebrities than this show is to him. It is up to you whether or not you want to watch.
UPDATE: Sue Shifrin said tweeted that she was not referring to Bonaduce in her tweets.
