Damon Dash Says He’s Pissed With Hype Williams For Taking a Plane Intended For Aaliyah Ahead of Her Deadly Crash
Damon Dash is still feeling the loss of his beloved Aaliyah. The two were inseparable within their year-long relationship up until her death. While Dash says he understands that life has an expiration date, he is upset with music video director Hype Williams over Aaliyah’s passing.
According to Dash, Williams took a plane offered to Aaliyah in the days leading up to her death. Unfortunately, Aaliyah and eight others would perish in another plane, which Dash says she was afraid to take because of its small size.
Damon Dash explains why he didn’t want Aaliyah working with Hype Williams
At the time of her death, Aaliyah was midway through finishing up press for her third full-length studio album. Her press included filming several music videos for forthcoming singles.
Aaliyah chose Williams because of his vision. “The whole concept was Hype’s,” choreographer Fatima Robinson tells W Magazine in a recent interview. “The song has such a wonderful, sensual, sexual vibe to it, and we wanted to play along with that. The beautiful beach, the idea of dancing on the yacht, were all Hype’s idea. We just wanted to have this really beautiful, classy, elegant video.”
Dash says he didn’t want Aaliyah shooting the music video for ‘Rock the Boat,’ primarily because of his previous dealings with the director.
Related: Damon Dash Exposes Producers He Says Tried to Exploit His Relationship With Aaliyah
“She was shooting a video in Miami – Hype was the director,” Dash tells Entertainment Tonight. “I know Hype. I just got off of ‘Big Pimpin” where I had to cut the video, you know what I mean because I just spent bread. So I was like, ‘You know he’s going to make you do another day. Don’t do it. Trust me, it’s just so he can spend money.’ And sure enough, she came home that day and [confirmed]. I just thought that it wasn’t necessary. I knew that that was going to happen.”
The crew left Miami for the Bahamas to shoot final scenes for the ‘Rock the Boat.’
The mogul says he learned Hype Williams took a plane intended for Aaliyah
Dash was anticipating Aaliyah’s return to Miami for the two to spend time together. He says he got a text from the singer in a panic when she saw how small the plane was.
“And then, when she actually saw the plane, we had the blackberries and she was like, ‘I don’t like this plane,'” he says. “And I was like, ‘Well don’t get on it.’ And she was like, ‘Well I have to because I have work to do.’ She got on the plane and she always had a very serious fear of planes in general. So she had to overcome a fear to get on that plane on the way there.”
Related: 19 Years After Her Death, What Aaliyah Said She Wanted Her Legacy To Be
Dash says he supported Aaliyah’s decision but became furious after later learning she could have used another plane but Williams charted it instead.
“What I was really more tight about was that I heard Lenny Kravitz had offered her a jet and that Hype took the jet,” he alleges. “So, that’s what really pissed me off about the situation when I heard about that.”
Dash says he confronted Hype about doing so, but won’t reveal the conversation out of respect for Aaliyah’s family and her legacy.
