Timbaland Slams Lifetime's Aaliyah Biopic: It's 'A Mockery'
Lifetime's controversial biopic, “Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B,” finally aired on Saturday, and to say that the late singer's fans disliked the film would be an extreme understatement.
Timbaland, who collaborated closely with her for years, was especially frank about his distaste for the TV movie on Instagram, and in a radio interview on Monday morning (November 17), he outright called it "a mockery."
During a phone call to Hot 97's "Ebro in the Morning" radio show, he admitted to feeling conflicted. One on hand, the superproducer felt that it was important to voice his outrage -- especially on behalf of fans -- but he also regretted giving more attention to the project.
"I always thought it was a rumor," Timb said of the biopic. "I thought it was a joke, but evidently it wasn't. I'm very upset about it."
"You're showing a mockery on TV," he added.
Timbaland explained that he hasn't spoken to Aaliyah's family members since the film debuted, but he's certain that they shared his views on the entire production. "For the first time, I think everybody was all in agreeance on everything when it came to Baby Girl with this bio -- it wasn't done right," he said. "It was just done wrong."
"[With] her dying, and people, the way they're supporting her even after death, I don't even know if they even rave over Michael Jackson, the way they rave over Aaliyah."
Hot 97 hosts pointed out that Wendy Williams, one of the film's producers, wasn't on great terms with Aaliyah when she was alive. But Williams doesn't seem to be worried about any of the negative feedback she's received, addressing it on her talk show Monday morning.
"We all have opinions but the #AaliyahMovie was the second highest cable movie on cable this year," Williams said.