Timbaland Once Told Wendy Williams to Prepare for Consequences After Her Aaliyah Biopic
Wendy Williams once helped produce a movie about the late singer Aaliyah. But many people weren’t thrilled with Williams telling the singer’s story, including those closest to the star.
What Timbaland had to say about Wendy Williams’ Aaliyah biopic
In 2014, Williams was behind the release of the Lifetime movie Aaliyah: The Princess of R & B. The feature chronicled the life of Aaliyah’s journey to superstardom, her relationship with acts like R. Kelly, Missy Elliot, and Timbaland.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Williams asserted that she did the movie to do Aaliyah’s story justice. Although she was aware there would be some controversy after helming the project.
“Lifetime needed to tell this story correctly. Fans won’t say, ‘Oh, my God, how could you disgrace her memory?’ And nosy people like me who want to find out things will also be fine,” she said.
The movie, however, received a lot of criticism both before and after its release. Aaliyah’s family was against the project, so much so they refused to allow some of Aaliyah’s own songs to be used on the show.
It was noted that a few fans didn’t agree with the show’s depiction of Aaliyah’s relationship with R. Kelly. Others felt that the parts of Missy Elliot and Timbaland were miscast. Even certain celebrities spoke out against the movie. Zendaya was originally supposed to play the part of Aaliyah, but dropped out of the project because of doubts she had with the film. She’d be replaced by X-Men: Apocalypse star Alexandra Shipp.
Timbaland, who was also very close to Aaliayh, outright refused to watch the project. And he advised Williams to be ready for the backlash she had coming her way.
“This is why people should never remake movies. S*** happens. Now you have to deal with the consequences,” he once posted on social media according to NJ.
How did Wendy Williams respond to ‘Aaliyah’ criticism?
Despite some of the negative feedback, Williams was proud of the project. The controversial TV host felt she honored Aaliyah’s legacy.
“In my opinion, we did a great job telling the story that the family was scared to put out there,” she said.
Williams also mentioned that the biopic was actually inspired by a book that focused more on the life of Aaaliyah instead of on her death.
“What we’re not showing you is the tastelessness of a plane crash and we’re not going into deep some of the things that would ruffle the families’ feathers,” she once said according to Jasmine Brand. “The movie is based on a book by a gentlemen by the name of Chris Farley. Chris was the music editor at Time Magazine many years ago. Very sensible man, married with children, really took a liking to Aaliyah and decided to write the book.”
And in the end, Williams seemed to take solace in the fact that critics’ attitudes had no bearing on the movie’s performance.
“I see my Aaliyah movie broke the Internet this weekend,” she once said according to MTV News. “Everybody got an opinion. Well, I must tell you: Whether you loved or hate, you watched.”
3.2 million viewers tuned in to watch the Aaliyah biopic, making it the second-highest-rated television film of 2014. But personally, Williams decided to exercise restraint when dealing with the film’s critics by avoiding social media. Which wasn’t difficult to do. She admitted social media was a space she wasn’t very savvy in.
“I do not do my own Twittering and Facebooking and stuff,” Williams said. “Because I do have a slick mouth and I would probably jump on social media and sit there in the house blogging back and cursing people out and everything. But I wouldn’t even know how to Facebook and guess what? It’s better that way.”
