Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B is airing Saturday, November 15 on Lifetime at 8pm. The biopic will track the R&B singer’s life from her appearance on Star Search at age 10 to her tragic death at 22 in a plane crash after filming the music video for her single “Rock the Boat.” The movie, produced by TV talk show host Wendy Williams, has been under fire because Aaliyah’s family has publicly rejected the movie and denied Lifetime from using “any of the music, or any of the photographs and videos” that they own. The trailer for the movie features Iggy Azalea’s song, “Goddess.”
Jezebel describes it as “a Disney-fied version of her [Aaliyah’s] relationship with predator producer R. Kelly and former wanton record-label asshole Damon Dash.” The biopic is based on the biography Aaliyah: More Than A Woman which detailed Aaliyah’s “creepy secret marriage at age 15” to R. Kelly. Aaliyah (played by Alexandra Shipp) was reportedly dating Dash at the time of her death.
