Tomi Adeyemi, author of the bestselling novel Children of Blood and Bone, has publicly distanced herself from the Paramount Pictures film adaptation of her book. In a video posted in early July 2026, Adeyemi said she had lived with a difficult reality for about a year and a half.
“Everyone involved, at least at the highest level, has been made aware of this reality. And they haven’t done anything to make it better. If anything, they’ve only antagonized me. And I accept that. But I also accept if I don’t say something, I think it’s just going to be worse. I’m not going to speak on what I endured to make it through the Young Adult Trilogy,” she said in a video posted on her Instagram account.
She described leaving the set of her own film adaptation while hyperventilating and sobbing, an episode witnessed by others. After returning to America she suffered severe somatic pain and repeated panic attacks. The experience left her certain she would never be able to watch the finished film.
As marketing for the movie continued and the behind-the-scenes pressure persisted, Adeyemi decided the situation needed to be made public. She said the film, which she had worked on in the hope of making things a little better, had become the worst thing she had ever had to live through. She stated that she does not wish to speak about the project again, has nothing to say about the people who made it, and is trying to move on.
