After receiving much critical backlash during its release, Lifetime's biopic Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B has gained one very unhappy critic- Timbaland. The producer has been very vocal about his disgust over the biopic of the late R&B star. He has even taken to social media to express his true feelings about the film.
Timbaland worked closely with Aaliyah prior to her tragic death in 2001. He has since then took to both Twitter and Instagram to express his dislike over Lifetime's biopic, which he called "bullsh-t". He even came up with a series of memes, mocking the film's casting choices.
"This is why people should never remake movies. Bulls--t happens," the producer fumed. "Now you have to deal with the consequences from me, Timbo, and the family..."
Timbaland was also disappointed in the casting choices of the film, particularly the actors who played Missy Elliot and himself. He felt that the characters being portrayed onscreen bore absolutely no resemblance to Missy and himself.
Lead actress Alexandra Shipp who played the titular role in the film has reached out to Timbaland following his rant. According to Timbaland, the young actress gave him a DM. While the producer did choose to keep Shipp's DM confidential, Timbaland did reveal his response to her.
"I wrote her back and I said, 'you should do research before entering it all. It's not against you. I just felt like whoever suggested that decision wasn't a wise decision.' That's all."
The film's producers-Howard Braunstein, Debra Martin Chase, and Christopher Farley-admitted to The Washington Post that the backlash "was hard to ignore, but you can't dwell on it."
Chase admitted that "Biopics are hard. People have an opinion and social media allows them to voice that opinion. But at the end of the day, our goal was to make the best movie possible."
It is to be noted that Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B is the second highest rating TV movie of the year.
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