Aaliyah’s fans were furious upon learning that Zendaya had been cast as the late singer for Lifetime’s 2014 TV movie, Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B. The “Rock the Boat” hitmaker’s loyal fans had taken to social media, fuming over the fact that Zendaya and Aaliyah shared no actual resemblance, with some convinced that the film was headed straight to TV for a reason — because it wasn’t going to be worth paying for.
The comments made by people on social media were ruthless, but it seemed apparent that people were not happy with the casting choice of the Wendy Williams-produced television flick, leading Zendaya to release a statement, confirming she was backing out from playing the role out of respect for the fans and family members.
While there was no reason to believe that Aaliyah’s family would have taken issue with the casting choice, they were completely shut out from helping narrate the film’s story, further questioning how much of the film was true and how much was based on fiction.
The overall production and casting left a sour taste in people’s mouths, and since many had already stressed how they were boycotting the project if Lifetime was to move ahead with Zendaya -- who is believed to be dating Tom Holland -- as its lead star, the latter backed out and decided it was better not to play the role after all.
Why Did Zendaya Back Out Of The Lifetime Movie?
In June 2014, Lifetime confirmed it had cast Zendaya as Aaliyah, and just minutes after the statement was shared to the press had the Disney alum’s name began trending on social media.
“Aaliyah was a brown-skinned, petite woman. Who is cherub faced, ivory skinned girl, Harpo??” one annoyed fan wrote on Twitter while another added, “This honestly has to be a joke. Zendaya cast as Aaliyah? They are literally hiring anybody for this role I see? I’m not watching.”
But it didn’t end there.
Another furious fan continued, “I think we should just boycott the movie in general. It’s already being produced by Wendy and Lifetime, so to think that the film will be anything worth watching, on top of having Zendaya cast as its lead, is a total miss for me.”
Clearly upset and bothered by the negative remarks made on social media, Zendaya decided to voice her opinion on the matter and share why she decided to take on the role, to begin with, explaining that Aaliyah has been one of her biggest inspirations growing up.
So, naturally, she gravitated to the opportunity of getting to embody the character of someone she’s admired for so long. Little did she expect to receive such backlash from Aaliyah’s fans, with many accusing her of not being “black enough” to portray the role.
“She's been an inspiration and influence in my whole career, her talent still shines brighter then ever, all I wanna do is honor her,” she shared on Twitter. “Im just a 17 year old girl who got cast to play one of her biggest inspirations #positive."
A month later, Zendaya shared she had dropped out of the movie — but NOT because she was pressured by fans to quit; it was simply because the production value was lacking.
Supposedly, rights to Aaliyah’s music were denied by the singer’s estate among other issues behind the scenes which made Zendaya feel as if the project was not going to live up to the expectations she’d hoped for.
And since she had already attracted such negative feedback, if the movie wasn’t going to be near perfect, Zendaya knew she would be roasted for even agreeing to take on the role from the start.
"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,” she said in a lengthy Instagram video.
"The main reasons were 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. 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 okay with moving forward with the project.”
The role was later handed over to Nickelodeon star Alexandra Shipp, who Zendaya congratulated in a follow-up video, stressing that there were no hard feelings about the situation and that she hoped that the film was still going to be a success.
"I only hope that she does not have to deal with half the hate that I had to deal with. 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.”