‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is a ‘Freddie Mercury’ biopic that also tells the story of Queen. Just like every Holywood motion picture, it also features some extra touches to make Mercury’s life seem more dramatic. One of those stories is about his former lover and manager Paul Prenter.
Many came forward to say that Prenter’s depiction wasn’t that unfair. They believe he did indeed affect Mercury negatively and had a bad influence on the band. Today, we’ll try to shed some light on whether Paul Prenter was really the villain he’s rumored to be, or if he was he just misunderstood.
Prenter Had a Relationship With Mercury
Paul Prenter was a radio DJ from Northern Ireland. He met at a bar with Freddie in 1975 and became his manager two years later. It’s rumored that they had a sexual relationship, and Prenter used this to blackmail Mercury as he hadn’t come out of the closet yet.
Not much is known about their relationship. It was thought to be mainly professional for about five years until 1982. Queen members didn’t like Prenter as he encouraged Freddie’s crazy lifestyle, and the band’s ‘Hot Space‘ album was a breaking point. Roger Taylor and Brian May weren’t happy with it, and they blamed Prenter for changes in sound.
He Betrayed Mercury
Prenter betrayed Freddie Mercury on a very personal level. In his ‘Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen,’ Mark Blake claims Freddie and Paul got into a fight after Paul organized a big party at the musician’s house.
This really upset Freddie. The two had a heated argument, and the Queen frontman fired Paul Prenter. Prenter told Mercury that he was going to get back at him. He sold a story and some photos to a newspaper about Freddie’s personal life. He went into detail about his lifestyle, claimed he slept with hundreds of men, and that two of his former partners died from AIDS.
This was very hard for Freddie as his private life was in front of millions of people at the hands of his former lover, manager, and friend. Prenter started to be known as Freddie’s very own ‘Judas,’ and moved back to Belfast. He died just a couple of months after Freddie’s passing.
