Robin “Lady of Rage” Allen will bring the story of a popular, yet controversial TV psychic to the screen in the upcoming Lifetime biopic, Miss Cleo: Her Rise and Fall.
Born Youree Dell Harris, Miss Cleo was a self-proclaimed voodoo priestess who gained a cult following with her appearances on the Psychic Readers Network.
Lifetime released the trailer for the biopic on Harris this week.
Known for her signature line “Call me now!” the trailer opens with Harris’ famous infomercial: “Don’t go blindly through life. Let me use the power of the tarot to show you the way. Call me now for your free reading.”
Based on a true story, the original film is set in the late 1990s when Harris, as a single mom, takes a job at the Psychic Readers Network to support her family — only to become one of the network’s most beloved personalities, Miss Cleo, according to Lifetime’s official description.
“You’re our highest earner ever,” a network manager says in the trailer, and reveals Harris was reportedly bringing in $24 million a month for the Psychic Readers Network before it all came crashing down.
In 2002, the Federal Trade Commission charged the owners of the network, not Harris, with defrauding customers who called the company’s 1-900 numbers for paid psychic readings.
Although the TV infomercials claimed Miss Cleo was a shaman from Jamaica, it later emerged that she was born in Los Angeles and had been an actress.
Her story was previously revisited in the 2022 HBO Max documentary Call Me Miss Cleo, which explored the mysterious TV psychic’s life story.
Harris passed away in 2016 after battling cancer.
This role marks a high profile new venture for Lady of Rage. The “Afro Puffs” rapper is best known for her work with Death Row Records artists and for acting roles in films like Judas and the Black Messiah, Ride, Next Friday, and The Cookout 2.
The cast of Lifetime’s Miss Cleo film also includes Shane Johnson, Ian Bohen, Daphne Maxwell Reid, Cocoa Brown, Dwayne Boyd, Towanda Braxton, Jaida Standberry, Marley Taylor, Amelia Young, Stevie Baggs Jr., and Leslie Black.
Tim Reid (Sister, Sister) directs from a screenplay by Camara Davis.
The film is produced by Hillionaire Productions for Lifetime, with Jami McCoy-Lankford and Samone Norsworthy as producers. Anthony Standberry, Ahmed Hussain, and Jami McCoy-Lankford serve as executive producers, and William J. Cone is the consulting producer.
Miss Cleo: Her Rise and Fall premieres Saturday, Aug. 10, at 8/7c on Lifetime, followed by the HBO Max documentary Call Me Miss Cleo at 10/9c.
Watch the trailer below:
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