She says she got a lot of hate when she signed up to play Aaliyah in a Lifetime biopic, but it wasn’t the haters that made her step down from the role of the deceased star, says Zendaya Coleman.
The Disney actress and singer took to Instagram over the weekend with a series of videos explaining why she quit the unauthorised movie.
‘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 actress explained. ‘The main reasons were 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.’
Zendaya says she tried to get in touch with Aaliyah’s family and was unable to do so, and decided to quit because she felt ‘not really morally OK’ with moving forward with the project.
After she left the movie, producers hired actress Alexandra Shipp, and Zendaya says she wishes her nothing but the best with the role, adding that she hopes she does not have to ‘deal with half the hate that I had to deal with.’
The film has a working title of Aaliyah: Princess Of R&B and is based on the biography Aaliyah: More Than A Woman by Christopher Farley.
Aaliyah died in a plane crash in 2001 at age 22.
Picture: Getty
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.