Steven Spielburg wanted Patti LaBelle to play Shug Avery in The Color Purple but she turned it down because of the same sex kiss between Shug and Miss Celie. Patti says, "I told Steven Spielberg I couldn't be in his film... I wasn't kissing a woman. I regret it because it was just acting. She (Shug) was in the tub, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. So after I saw the movie, I said, 'Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so nervous about doing something that's acting.' I should have shut up and just done the screen test and maybe I would have been Shug Avery."(Starpulse)
