If you hadn’t heard, an Aaliyah biopic is in the struggles to get made and Zendaya Coleman has opened up on why she dropped out of the project. Via Hollywood Life:
“Let me just explain something. The reason why I chose not to do the Aaliyah movie had nothing to do with the haters or people telling me that I couldn’t do it, I wasn’t talented enough, or I wasn’t black enough. It had absolutely nothing to do with that.
“The main reason is that the production value wasn’t there, there were complications with the music rights, and I just felt like it wasn’t being handled delicately considering the situation.
And I tried my best to reach out to the family on my own, and I wrote a letter, but I was unable to do so; therefore, I felt not really morally OK with moving forward with the project.
“With all that being said, congratulations to the new woman playing Aaliyah; I only hope she does not have to deal with half the hate that I had to deal with. And remember that we are all human beings trying to do what we love to do. Let’s practice motivation and love; not discrimination and hate. All right?”
Actress Alexandra Shipp was chosen to replace Coleman for the title role. The movie is being produced by Wendy Williams and will air on Lifetime. Reread that sentence because I’m sure the words caused screaming inside of your head the first time through.
(Via Hollywood Life)