By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on September 12, 2024
Don Cornelius died from a gunshot wound to the head on February 1, 2012, at the age of 75. His death was the first time I had lost a close friend to suicide. It hurt me deeply.
Don called me the night before he died. I was taking a shower in my Atlanta condo and missed his call. After I exited the shower, I saw that Don had called me. I meant to call Don back immediately, but I got distracted by a litany of other incoming calls as I was getting dressed for an event I had to attend that night.
When I got home from the event later that night, I forgot to call Don before falling asleep. When I awoke the next morning, it was all over the news. Don Cornelius had killed himself.
I was shocked and angry at myself for not calling Don back the night before. I had talked Don out of his emotional despair and depression on three prior occasions and knew I could have done it again. I could always tell from the tone of Don’s voice and the subjects we discussed whenever he was depressed.
I failed in my friendship with Don when I did not call him back after I exited the shower. By 4 a.m. PST the next morning, Don sank into a deep state of depression over his deteriorating health issues and ended his life.
How We Met
Don and I met in 2002 while I was trying to buy the Anaheim Angels Major League Baseball team from the Disney Company. At the time, Don was raising $300 million to launch SoulTrainCybervision.com and the Soul Train Channel.
UBS Paine Webber (Beverly Hills Office) represented Don in his $300 million capital raise. UBS Paine Webber (New York Office) had committed to raising $150 million of the $200 million I needed to buy the Angels.
I agreed to participate in Don’s capital raise because he was taking the bold steps necessary to launch his Soul Train channel on Cable TV at a time when Blacks deemed themselves lucky if they had a show on TV. Don had already developed an impressive array of diversified programming content for his proposed Soul Train channel, which would run 24 hours per days, seven days per week.
Don needed one of the major cable carriers to platform his Soul Train channel. Don approached Charter Communications, Comcast, Liberty Media, and Adelphia Communications with his Soul Train channel. All of them eventually turned him down. They were willing to put a Black TV show in their programming lineup, but they unwilling to give a Black content creator like Don access to his own 24-hour cable channel.
Don also gave me a draft of his autobiography titled, “Soul Train Memoirs,” an original story and screenplay by Don Cornelius. We intended to co-produce a movie from Don’s screenplay.
From 2007 to 2009, Don helped me to advance in the competition to acquire the St. Louis Rams National Football League team (now known as the L.A. Rams). He was one of my business advisors and biggest cheerleaders.
Why We Bonded
The friendship between Don and me was birthed out a deep and abiding respect for each other’s achievements in business. Don shared his knowledge of the professional sports world with me and I shared my institutional knowledge of the cable TV industry with him. Even though Don was 12 years older than me, we developed a close business and personal friendship.
Don was a Chicago native who grew up in the city during Black Chicagoan’s push for diversity, equity, and inclusion in employment opportunities and business enterprises. He was a TV news reporter who focused on Black economic empowerment issues before he launched Soul Train in 1970.
Soul Train evolved into the longest-running program in TV history. Don created it, owned the intellectual property associated with the show, executive produced the show, and successfully syndicated it around the world.
I attended Southern Illinois University from 1966 to 1970. I also lived and worked in Chicago during the summer months while I was in college.
The Chicago connection between Don and me was deep. We both knew all the Black powerbrokers in Chicago during the late 1960s.
After our initial meeting in Los Angeles, I chilled out with Don every time I was in L.A. between 2002 and 2012. I turned down all of Don’s offers to go with him to the annual Soul Train Awards event and other celebrity outings. I preferred to hang out privately.
When we hung out, it was just the two of us. We talked about our families, our business operations, and our pursuit of three high-profile commercial projects that broke the color barrier.
I counseled Don through a couple of high-profile legal matters and several health issues in his life. One was a domestic abuse situation involving his second wife. Don claimed she was cheating on him. I convinced him to end the marriage and let her go, which he did.
I also hooked Don up with my brother Levi to give him a famous and well-respected advocate within the medical community. This hookup gave Don readily available, 24-hour access to the best doctors in the world to work on his health issues.
Don’s legal and health issues took a heavy emotional toll on his personal and business life.
My Pain from Don's Suicide Has Never Ended
My pain from Don’s suicide has never ended. I have never forgiven myself for the lapse in my friendship with Don. I should have called him back before I fell asleep on the night he callled me.
To this day, I miss Don and the special friendship bond we shared. He was a great American, a visionary, a multimedia business icon, and a wonderful human being.
As a final tribute to this great man, I will bring Don's "Soul Train Memoirs" to life as a feature film. I still have my copy of the screenplay that Don sent me. It's his story in his own words.
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