August, 1969 is a month that many Americans won't easily forget. It was on the 8th and 9th of that month when notorious cult leader Charles Manson convinced some of his dedicated followers to embark on a killing spree in California.
Over the course of two days, the Manson Family murdered seven people, including Abigail Ann Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, Steven Earl Parent, Jay Sebring, Leno and Rosemary La Bianca, as well as Sharon Tate.
While all the deaths have continued to horrify and fascinate the nation, Tate's death stood out from the rest. The beloved actress, best known for her role in the Valley of the Dolls, was eight-and-a-half months pregnant with her first child when she was stabbed multiple times in her home. The perpetrator then used her blood to write a message on the walls.
The 26-year-old's husband, director Roman Polanski, was in London scouting for film locations when he received word of his wife's gruesome demise.
"In those days, she was not just the love of my life, she was the love of everyone's life," Polanski later wrote in the book, Sharon Tate: Recollection.
Over the years, Tate's memory has lived on through through books, documentaries, a museum exhibit, and films. It's been 49 years since the starlets untimely death, and her story will once again be retold in an upcoming movie titled The Haunting of Sharon Tate.
Former Disney star Hilary Duff was cast to portray the late icon, and she recently shared a photo of transformation on social media. However, not everyone is supportive of Duff's latest role, especially not Tate's sister, Debra.
While Duff, 31, expressed that it "was a true honor" to portray Tate in the upcoming independent film. Debra told People that she thinks "it's classless" and "exploitative."
"It doesn't matter who it is acting in it "“ it's just tasteless," Debra said. "It's classless how everyone is rushing to release something for the 50th anniversary of this horrific event."
Debra, who was 16 when her sister was killed, also slammed the film for inaccuracies. There's a scene in which Tate has a premonition that she and her ex-boyfriend, Sebring, would have their throats slit, before their actual deaths took place. According to Debra, the dream sequence is "a total fabrication."
"I know for a fact she did not have a premonition "” awake or in a dream "” that she and Jay would have their throat cut," she says. "I checked with all of her living friends. None of her friends had any knowledge of this. Tacky, tacky, tacky."
Still, the upcoming film isn't the first to include a paranormal theme while retelling Tate's story. In 1970, paranormal magazine writer Daniel Kleiner claimed that he spoke to Tate in 1968, and she told him that she did undergo a "psychic experience."
The late actress's sister voiced her anger and disappointment at the fact that no one got in touch with her before the film was created.
"It would have been nice if someone had contacted me," she told the publication.
This isn't the first time that Debra has spoken out about her sister and Manson. Last year, she told People that she "said a prayer for [Manson's] soul" after she received the call from the prison informing her of his death.
Do you agree with Debra? Let us know in the comments!