Selena producer suing father of the late singer for breach of contract

The father of the late singer Selena is being sued by a producer claiming he broke a deal they had over rights to her life story.

Moctesuma Esparza alleges he was given the rights to Selena’s life story and other members of her family in an agreement he made with Abraham Quintanilla in 1995, according to TMZ. 

Esparza says the deal included films and remakes, and alleges Quintanilla broke their agreement by going forward with a Netflix mini-series about the rise of his daughter.

Esparza is suing Quintanilla and his daughter Suzette for breach for contract, and Netflix for ignoring their original deal. 

Esparza is suing Suzette because he says he met with her and her father for a ‘Young Selena’ project he had developed, which ultimately fell through.

Esparza says he started discussing the possibility of producing more media about Selena with Quintanilla following the release of the hit 1997 film Selena, which Esparza produced. 

However, the producer says he was shocked seeing Quintanilla had licensed Selena rights to the streaming service Netflix in 2018. 

Esparza says Warner Brothers, the studio working on the Selena mini series, brushed him off when he asked how Abraham got the green light.   

Esparza claims he is out at least $1 million as a result of the breached contract.   

Selena Quintanilla was just 23 when she was murdered by the president of her fan club. 

The beloved Tejano singer was a Grammy winner who was on track for superstardom when she was killed.   

Netflix will be releasing a two-part show chronicling her rise, Selena: The Series, on December 4, 2020. 

Selena: The Series stars Christian Serratos as Selena, Ricardo Chavira as her father Abraham Quintanilla, Seidy Lopez as her mother Marcella Quintanilla, and Jesse Posey as her husband Chris Perez.