When Lifetime aired their biopic “Aaliyah: The Princess Of R&B” in the United States on Saturday night, it wasn’t long before every man and his dog was very loudly voicing their opinions. The biopic was supposed to have documented the “inspirational journey” of the late R&B artiste’s life but it seems that the Lifetime film has turned around unexpectedly to bite the producers back right in the butt.
In fact, in July, Disney Channel star and singer Zendaya came out to say that she’ll no longer portray Aaliyah, like she was initially supposed to. Her reason at that time was because she wanted to “do it right”:
I just felt that the project wasn’t 100% there. I feel (that) production wise, everything just felt a little rushed. And I think because she’s someone I admire and I love so much, it can’t be done halfway, or not to the standards I think it should be done at, so I just decided not to do it.
It was later reported that the project was also put on hold due to production issues, including problems with obtaining rights to Aaliyah’s music. But it resumed when they found another actress, Alexandra Shipp, to take on the role as Aaliyah.
But as soon as the biopic was released, the masses slammed everything from the casting of key roles to actress Alexandra Shipp’s portrayal of the late, great singer and the fact that the 23-year-old’s long black hair wasn’t worn across one side of her face as the songstress was so well-known for. The other key factor was that Lifetime seemed to be relying on viewers not knowing what pivotal real-life players such as Missy Elliott, Timbaland, R Kelly and even Aaliyah herself actually look like.
Ace artiste and producer Timbaland posted a series of videos over the weekend to his Instagram account denouncing Lifetime’s controversial Aaliyah biopic, “Aaliyah: Princess Of R&B” which aired on Saturday night.
“A lot of people keep asking me if I’m watching that bullshit. Evidently not. No way. Not Timbo,” Timbaland said in one clip, referring to the Lifetime film about the late R&B singer. Timbaland posted 4 videos in total, adding that he hopes the network will “feel his wrath”:
But his hatred for Lifetime didn’t stop there.
The 42-year-old and longtime friend of Aaliyah also posted a slew of memes aimed at Lifetime, mocking the film’s choice of casting as well as talk show host Wendy who served as a co-executive producer. But perhaps his most powerful message was a photo of Aaliyah with a quote about her legacy:
We can’t comment as we haven’t seen it ourselves but it’s safe to say that Lifetime has lost many “fans”, with Timbaland being the most influential, iconic, and sure as heck outspoken.
Ouch.
(Source)