Genesia said:

With the guys who badmouth Prince, I think it's just garden-variety jealousy and sour grapes. They all wanted Prince's success, but didn't have Prince's work ethic or talent.

With the women, I think it's more emotional. They viewed him either as a lover or a brother - not as their boss. So when the gig ended, it was more like a break-up – and those are rarely amicable.

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Gotta love the utter sexism on display here: guys are jealous of him cuz they ain't as rich/talented (= rational), women are "emotional".

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Yet you ignore the elephant in the room: the ONLY consistent factor in all of the people being pissed at Prince after their tenure is... PRINCE. Oh, and there's a ton of CONCRETE evidence of Prince actually treating people like shit, taking their contributions and failing to credit them, promising people things and then just stringing them along, etcetera.

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That long list of former employees being pissed? Ghee, how about we face the simplest explanation: Prince is a douche and treats people badly. Just look at how P treats his fans.

dJJ said:

What I apreciate about Prince is that he did not badmouth anybody himself.

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Oh really? "Lendy & Wisa" ring a bell? P did plenty of badmouthing. Or go ask Levi what P actually did.

jaawwnn said:

If you don't jump when he says jump (even if it's 3 in the morning and he hasn't spoken to you in 2 weeks) you're out. You move your life for him (get your husband to join his band for example), he won't move his for you.

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Let's also not forget being required to be a vegetarian, be super religious, etc.

SoulAlive said:

At that point,Prince was spreading himself too thin.He was trying to do too many things all at once.That's why Paul was pissed.Their record was in stores,but there was no promotion,no guidance,no direction.They rehearsed a whole year for a tour that never happened.I can understand Paul's frustration.He and Prince had a heated argument on the phone and Paul told him that he can't do a million things at once.Prince replied "Oh yes I can...I did it with The Time,didn't I? I did it with Vanity 6,didn't I? I did it with Sheila E".

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And Paul was getting big money offers from agents in Hollywood, which didn't help much.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Miko: No I left on my own not because of him and I don't know if I feel good when I now say that it was because of the other band members. It was like: Prince -- The Band -- and Me. Me and him was cool but me with the band? Because I'm Miko one hundred per cent, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week always, never changing. But they -- when Prince came into the room it was like 'Okay -- lights, camera, action', a whole new personality came out and they weren't true to themselves. That's basically why I left.

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Miko did an interview somewhere in the mid-1990s when he was performing in Belgium, and talked about how he got pissed that licks he played at rehearsals ended up in songs without him getting credit or even acknowledgement from Prince. So he stopped doing that... There was more, but that's the biggest thing I recall.

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Afterwards he moved to Holland and then to Africa IIRC.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Way into 2009 Lisa Coleman (who with Wendy Melvoin was performing here and there with Prince since 2006) said he is like a brother and would be a cool 'uncle' to her child

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They also sound quite exasperated when they mention how they get angry notes/letters/calls after they say things (about him) which he doesn't like. Plenty of their interviews give off this vibe of "ya know, P, you don't have to behave like a total ass, it's not required, we're not your enemies".

There's this line in Matt Thorne's book "Prince": “Steve Durkee had left not on friendly terms, which is not unusual in the Paisley world.”

And there's this from Touré's "I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon":

Eric Leeds said at one point Prince wanted the band to all be vegan. Alan told his brother that to survive being in Prince’s band you had to at least pretend to drink the Kool-Aid, so, Eric said, you had guys being vegan when Prince was around and eating whatever they wanted when he wasn’t around. “He attached some spiritual component to it but looked at it as another way for him to exercise control,” Eric said. “If you’re gonna work for me then you have to conform to my ideal.”

Same book:

A former-girlfriend told me, “He has great respect for women. And a blatant disrespect and disregard for women. Not when he’s speaking to you, but in his actions. They’re not genuine. He’s not honest. He’s not a good husband. He gets bored easily. He’s not monogamous. He’s very controlling. And he’s not that sweet to them.”

BartVanHemelen said:

dJJ said:

What I apreciate about Prince is that he did not badmouth anybody himself.

.

Oh really? "Wendy & Lisa" ring a bell? P did plenty of badmouthing. Or go ask Levi what P actually did.

What did Levi say?

(Still a great shame he's no longer with Prince, I really loved the michael sonny tommy/mr. hayes levi line-up)

BartVanHemelen said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Way into 2009 Lisa Coleman (who with Wendy Melvoin was performing here and there with Prince since 2006) said he is like a brother and would be a cool 'uncle' to her child

.

They also sound quite exasperated when they mention how they get angry notes/letters/calls after they say things (about him) which he doesn't like. Plenty of their interviews give off this vibe of "ya know, P, you don't have to behave like a total ass, it's not required, we're not your enemies".

I know, they don't hate him at all, more like frustrated, because they have love for him and don't understand his actions. How do you go from 2006-2009 doing stuff with them to totally turning off again? Sheila E finally had enough, I think she was the most submissive of them all going along with the S&M fantasy of her relationship with Prince.

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Around the time of Emancipation is when I read tons of wonderful things he began opening up to when it comes to the Revolution members, like the ice was melting, I think if his child lived Prince would have been a different person.

BartVanHemelen said:

Genesia said:

With the guys who badmouth Prince, I think it's just garden-variety jealousy and sour grapes. They all wanted Prince's success, but didn't have Prince's work ethic or talent.

With the women, I think it's more emotional. They viewed him either as a lover or a brother - not as their boss. So when the gig ended, it was more like a break-up – and those are rarely amicable.

.

Gotta love the utter sexism on display here: guys are jealous of him cuz they ain't as rich/talented (= rational), women are "emotional".

.

Yet you ignore the elephant in the room: the ONLY consistent factor in all of the people being pissed at Prince after their tenure is... PRINCE. Oh, and there's a ton of CONCRETE evidence of Prince actually treating people like shit, taking their contributions and failing to credit them, promising people things and then just stringing them along, etcetera.

.

That long list of former employees being pissed? Ghee, how about we face the simplest explanation: Prince is a douche and treats people badly. Just look at how P treats his fans.

How does he treat his fans? He has never taken anyone to court over bootlegging. People have received cease and desist letters. No financial penalties have occured. He is not okay with fans selling bootlegs which legally he has a right to do something about it. Giving after parties, letting fans come out to Paisely Park, letting fans come on stage, doing a seris of shows for $25.00. Sounds like as fans we have it pretty good. Prince owes us nothing but a good concert if we pay for it and that is it. We have no relationship with him and he none with us.

As far as his employees and that is what they were, the telling thing is if he calls they all come running at top speed so at the end of the day how bad of a boss could he have been.

[Edited 4/20/14 18:52pm]