Richard Pryor's daughter denies he slept with Marlon Brando

Maria Puente | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Marlon Brando and Richard Pryor had sex, comedian's widow says Marlon Brando and Richard Pryor were lovers, according to the late comedian’s widow.

Never mind what Quincy Jones says, and don't believe Richard Pryor's "so-called widow." Pryor's daughter, Rain Pryor, furiously denied Pryor and Marlon Brando ever slept together and poured scorn on everyone gleefully gossiping about it Friday.

After Jones casually mentioned in an interview this week that his legendary pals Pryor and Brando had hooked up, and after Pryor's widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor, confirmed it and said she planned to publish his diaries to prove it, Rain Pryor, 48, took to Facebook to say no way, no how.

The actress and comedian sneered at "faux news" and suggested that talking about this amounted to smearing her father.

"Daddy did NOT have relations with Brando," she fumed. "Why this sudden need to drag Daddy through the Hollywood mud? I find it tasteless and infuriating. ...We live in the age of faux news is real unless we disagree for our own agendas, and people need to stay relevant by dishing dirt."

She posted two lengthy diatribes that denounced Jones and the woman she referred to as her father's "so-called widow" for helping the media excavate the sex habits of long-dead stars for the purposes of gossip.

She said people should be talking about Pryor's "genius comedy" and his talents as a writer, director and producer.

"As one of his children, I should not have to defend my brilliant and bruised father to anyone," she said. "But instead I am sharing much vulnerability with some mean spirited gossip rag readers who believe anyone with money and fame."

Most of the people commenting on her Facebook posts praised her but a few wondered whether they carried a tone of "low-key homophobia," as poster Jason Raphael put it.

The gossip started with music legend Jones, who claims Pryor, who died at age 65 in 2005, slept with Brando, who died in 2004 at age 80. That might have been news to some Americans but it wasn't to Pryor's friends and family, according to Jones and his widow. Pryor didn't keep it hidden before his death that he slept with women and men.

Jones made his offhand remark in an expletive-drenched interview with Vulture this week. Then Pryor's widow confirmed it in an interview with TMZ and seemed to further confirm it on Twitter.

She told TMZ that Pryor was always open about his bisexuality and documented it extensively in his diaries, which she plans to publish later this year.

"It was the '70s! Drugs were still good, especially quaaludes. If you did enough cocaine, you'd (sleep with) a radiator and send it flowers in the morning," she joked, adding that she thinks Pryor would be delighted if he heard his friend Jones "spilling the tea."

"If you listen to Richard's comedy---the early stuff---he was way ahead of his time on gay rights!!! #noshame," she tweeted.

If you listen to Richard's comedy---the early stuff---he was way ahead of his time on gay rights!!! #noshame — Jennifer Lee Pryor (@JenniferLPryor) February 8, 2018

This all happened going on 40 years ago, so why are we talking about it now? Because of Jones' eyebrow-raising Q&A with writer David Marchese, in which he waxed profane on any number of subjects including that he dated Ivanka Trump and that he once thought the Beatles were the "worst musicians in the world."

Somehow, they got into a discussion about Brando, a long-time friend of Jones, and whether he liked to cha-cha. (Brando and Jones were so close that when Jones was feeling low Brando would invite him to chill out on the Tahitian island he owned.)

"(Brando) used to go cha-cha dancing with us. He could dance his ass off," Jones recalled. "He was the most charming (guy) you ever met. He’d (sleep with) anything. Anything! He’d (sleep with) a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye."

But Rain Pryor wasn't having it with either Jones or the widow, who she claimed "hated" both her father and Jones.

"Q, was once a brilliant music producer who is losing his mind, and decided to garner publicity for himself with a sensationalized interview; and because y’all think and equate Fame and Money with decency, you ate it up like thirsty dogs, as he spewed out a lie about my father who’s not here to defend himself," she declared in another Facebook post.

"Then on top of it all, my dad’s so-called widow validated it, because she needs to keep legitimizing herself and tarnish our dad even after he’s dead."

Other friends and admirers of Pryor jumped in with their own reactions to news of Pryor's love life.

An admirer named Mack Moli posted a clip from a roast of Pryor in which Pryor "talked about having sex w/ a dude...but he’s Richard Pryor so most ppl thought he was joking."

Screenwriter Scott Weinberg joked on Twitter that, "Apparently Marlon Brando and Richard Pryor had sex. That's not a combo I ever would have imagined. Thanks, Quincy Jones!"

Apparently Marlon Brando and Richard Pryor had sex. That's not a combo I ever would have imagined. Thanks, Quincy Jones! — Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) February 8, 2018

Another screenwriter, Eric Haywood, joked about his next rom-com script, using a clip of Kermit the Frog madly typing.

"brb gotta go write my richard pryor-marlon brando rom-com spec script," the tweet said.

brb gotta go write my richard pryor-marlon brando rom-com spec script pic.twitter.com/jV4aL3OEPl — Eric Haywood (@EricHaywood) February 7, 2018

A representative of Brando's estate did not return a message from USA TODAY.