Wendy Williams Defends Aaliyah Biopic / Blasts Backlash

Published: Monday 17th Nov 2014 by Sam
wendy-williams-aaliyah-biopic-thatgrapejuice

The net was set ablaze over the weekend following the airing of Lifetime‘s critically panned Aaliyah biopic.

A volcano of opinions populated social media after the airing of ‘Aaliyah: Princess Of R&B’, with the lava of anger still spilling over today.

Notable in her silence, though, was the project’s executive producer Wendy Williams.

The talk show maven turned media mogul had been promoting the movie in earnest and guaranteed that her enlisting (which took place in the advanced stage of the production process) would ensure that the story would be told “right”.

Needless to say, the masses have made clear that they disapprove.

Wisely choosing to address the matter on her show today (see: ratings), Williams defended the flick and cited its major ratings as the true indicator of its success.

See what she had to say below…

Given that it’s Wendy, it was kinda sorta inevitable that she’d have her game face on. That said, even she must know that the movie was a mucky mess?

In any case, what’s done is done. Hopefully, the huge interest will compel a major movie house to produce a big screen narrative that boasts better attention to detail.

Your thoughts?

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  1. Drinkmybussyjuice November 17, 2014

    I no longer care for this b****. She has too much pride to admit when she’s wrong. She can comment on everybody else’s shortcomings and miss faults and failures but not her own. This movie should’ve never been made.

    • KP November 17, 2014

      Aaliyah is DEAD she wont all that when she was alive a step above Ciara..they tried to tell the story.Wendy was ONE of the producers.Get over it the family will probably make one who cares

  2. christinastherealtalent November 17, 2014

    Wendy knows she’s dead a** wrong for EVERYTHING! She believes in her own hype too much.

  3. Stephy Tha Lambily November 17, 2014

    Wendy is soooooooooooo messy! LOL

    • FutureCIARA November 17, 2014

      I still love my messy aunt Wendy tho!! Lol

      • Ri November 17, 2014

        u mean uncle

      • truth (icki is the QWEEN OF PUSHBACK!! Iggy got her scuured honey. #IckiAFlop) November 17, 2014

        She doing a movie on single mothers…starring Ciara.

  4. eric November 17, 2014

    Airhead. The ratings are an indication of people’s love and curiosity for Aaliyah, nothing else. If you want to measure the movie’s real success, look at the overwhelming number of people who went to social media to voice what a mess the movie is.

  5. Chile gurllll November 17, 2014

    This is ao sadddd…. Dis b**** has 0 respect n or compassion for aaliyahs family, im a fan & Was beyond pissed n offended….smh Wendy karma is a b**** , i hope u kno that

  6. metzo November 17, 2014

    Girl Bye!

  7. Mark111 November 17, 2014

    People watched this trash movie and gave it great ratings and now the same losers are watching Wendy’s show to see her melt… giving her high ratings. People are dumb. But hey, to that Pest, I told you ut would be higher than 888k.lol

    • Tyler November 17, 2014

      Yeah….it was better than 600k too #BasicCable

  8. LIL’ KIM IS THE G.O.A.T. November 17, 2014

    The Aaliyah movie was just like Flopnika Garbaj’s music career: TRASH!

    • Twitter: @OnikaBoss November 17, 2014

      You go down in the books as one of Nic’s most pressed haters. lol

      • truth (icki is the QWEEN OF PUSHBACK!! Iggy got her scuured honey. #IckiAFlop) November 17, 2014

        He told no lies tho. Icki IZZZZ a flop

  9. old school November 17, 2014

    I’m going to defend Wendy on this one. I think she did what she could do with that movie. Yeah they should of cast the characters better, but even though Aaliyah was girl, she had a lot of deep dark secrets behind her and a lot of conspiracy theories along with her death. They should just move on and let it go. I hope they make this the last and final Aaliyah movie!

    • BeyRihLiyah November 17, 2014

      shut the fucccck up the only reason why they did to movie was to cash in on a dead person and they didn’t even try to make it decent and not to mention it was unauthorized

    • AmbeRussell November 17, 2014

      But if that was her best, they should have kept it. Who gives anyone a right to make a biopic on a person who’s immediate family did not agree to it. The time line of the story, the writing, the acting, the greater moments of her life left out, but Wendy did what she could have done. With all the barriers, it feels like she and the rest of the movie team, finalized this movie, not to be the best Aalyiah biopic, but to show ppl they could do it and do it fast…the movie was done and ready for released MUCH fast than anyone expected

    • Oh, So we doing this today!? November 17, 2014

      Over here trying to play devils advocate… Be quiet and sit _/

  10. AmbeRussell November 17, 2014

    It feels like she (and everyone else involved with the movie) made the movie not to tell Aaliyah’s story, but to just make the movie. I did not watch it, but when no one in her circle was invovled, her music wasnt being used and her family said no, what right do u really have to make this movie. N the movie wasnt even good, from what I heard. And the ending didnt show her death or create how she was feeling or if it hadn’t happen or nothing.
    Anyways, I feel the se way about any music of hers that ppl want to make. If it is t helping her legacy as a musician and spreading her ideas of being a good person, don’t release it(drake’s line dissing Chris brown in enough said song)

  11. BeyRihLiyah November 17, 2014

    this biiiiitch is so evil

  12. #TeamTinashe Stan “Aquarius” Now In Stores November 17, 2014

    Toying with my girls LEGACY to earn a quick buck? Her and everyone involved in that movie needs to get fűcked up.. how about they make a movie about Wilbert Williams ‘alleged’ son? That would be great.
    http://youtu.be/vJDzyO1Awc4

  13. TheElusiveLamb November 17, 2014

    Those who watched it weren’t Aaliyah fans. I know I didn’t watch. It was totally disrespectful and uncalled for. If you’re going to do a movie about Aaliyah, 30 minutes of it should not reflect R. Kelly, as he was not important in her later life and rarely mentioned. Wendy is a shady dude. For someone to claim a “Say it Like You Mean it” attitude, you are mighty quiet Lil fellow.

    • tits mcgee November 17, 2014

      You can’t tell Aaliyah’s story without the major part of her life, her iconic music and performances.

      This whole project seems a farce. I’ll wait for the version of baby girl’s story without the chicken & waffles set of actors, and cheap production.

      *Plays ‘Try Again’*

  14. carmen chance November 17, 2014

    It was high ratings because we thought it was gonna be a good movie due to the fact that Wendy williams was producing it,and honestly I don’t think she even had anything to do with the movie. I think they just used her for the hype.It was a bad idea to begin with. A bio pic with out the music would never work. Money was the agenda and we were all fooled. Stop supporting Wendy Williams right now!!!

  15. FutureCIARA November 17, 2014

    So why didn’t TGJ post the ratings???

    Anybody know the ratings.

    • BeyRihLiyah November 17, 2014

      wendy said it was the 2nd highest rated tv movie on cable of all of 2014

  16. smh November 17, 2014

    Her and Sandra Rose should hook up. They both are pathetic creatures. Never will admit being wrong and messy. Lonely woman

  17. RICHIE_RICH November 17, 2014

    …………. No comment

    Whats the real reason, the family doesn’t want any biopic made? Hmmmm I know, but I’m cute all the way cute RIP baby girl………..

    • RICHIE_RICH November 17, 2014

      “Keep”

    • Oh, So we doing this today!? November 17, 2014

      What’s the reason for beyonce to always wear those security blanket lace fronts…..I rest my case.

      • RICHIE_RICH November 17, 2014

        I can really go in on you and baby girls , but I have morals , so I’m just keep it cute. May God bless you and the dead!!!!!!

      • Brian310 November 17, 2014

        You can’t go in on anybody cause I highly doubt you were in her close knit circle to know anything now if your talking about rumors hell we can go there seeing as how Bey has quite a few herself.

  18. Antonio November 17, 2014

    But let’s be honest, her family doesn’t what any biopic made about her because there isn’t really much to tell. No shade, but Aaliyah was not an “it” girl in the 90s and early 2000s the way ppl hype her up to be. Brandy was the “it” Black t*** female star in the 90s and even the early 2000s then it was Ashanti for a few yrs and then Bey. Aaliyah’s albums never sold massive numbers and most of her singles flopped. Even her self titled album was flopping at first, that’s why her label rushed out to 2 singles at the last minute: Rock the Boat and More Than a Woman. Yeah she did some movies, but she did not have a major hit film and I wish ppl stop saying Jada Pinkett Smith took her role in the Matrix sequels when Aaliyah’s role was given to Nona Gaye. Brandy’s albums and movies were bigger and have more acclaim, Monica’s singles were shitting back to back and Mariah, Whitney, Janet, Toni and MJB were dominating all on fronts. Aaliyah was just anoter R&B chick with a nice voice and cute dance moves (like Mya). If Aaliyah wasn’t as big as the other women I mentioned during her peak, what makes y’all think she would’ve been a major industry force in 2014. Hell even, Britney, Xtina, Usher and Alicia Keys are flopping and let’s not talk about how Brandy and Monica are barely selling. Beyoncé was bound for solo superstardom to begin with. In 2001 Bey was already being pushed as the next major Black female pop star before Aaliyah died with her role in Goldmember as well as all her endorsements she began receiving. She may have been competiton for Ciara and Rihanna, but not for Beyoncé. The movie did suck horribly but Aaliyah didn’t need or deserve any type of biopic.

    • BeyRihLiyah November 17, 2014

      for one nobody is going to read this paragraph so you wasted your time

    • CzarM November 17, 2014

      Seriously, shut up. Top industry heavyweights (producers, executives, journalists, peers, and icons) have recognized, praised and confirmed Aaliyah’s significance to the world of music. By comparison, who are you and why do you think your commentary matters? All you are is some random clown on the Internet who most likely doesn’t have a certification or accreditation in anything; meaning that your editorial is pointless because you’re irrelevant. Don’t embarrass yourself like that again.

    • Brian310 November 17, 2014

      I’m trying to understand how her album was flopping when it was her highest 1st week sales of her career and was her fastest album to reach gold all of this was in a months time of the album being out then she died, Rock da Boat nor More than a Woman were released yet so she only had We Need A Resolution out which was a under performance but didn’t stop the album from selling….as big as Brandy celebrity and fame was she only outsold Aaliyah by 100k which is not a slay at all and her nor Monica have yet to surpass Aaliyahs 1st week sales from her last album which should tell you she had surpassed them in the 00s…Aaliyah was a multi platinum selling artist and she achieved that without half the promo what makes you think she was destined to flop when she was basically in the mist of crossing over…and with the older artist of the 90s slowing down(excluding Mariah and Janet) she had all eyes on her as the star of the future…I like Bey as she is 1 of my favs but her start to solo super stardom was not easy her 1st few attempts were flops and she and her team had to go back change her look and sound that her 1st album was initially planned to sound and change it all up then she came back out in the rest was history. All of this artist have their own reasons for flopping as long as Aaliyah didn’t make poor decisions off stage and stayed hungry she would have been fine her and Bey are too different and neither ones Success would have affected the other.

      • Sass November 17, 2014

        @Brian. How did Bey change everything up exactly? The only thing that flopped was Work It Out. And she was told to scrap songs on DIL but she didnt and they turned out to be hits. Get it right bro! Besides that I agree with you.

  19. Avi November 17, 2014

    I don’t so much care that Aaliyah’s family, friends and fans didn’t want to see this movie made…simply because they didn’t want her personal business exposed, exploited, speculated on, or whatever the case may be. Aaliyah was a public figure and if there is enough public interest in her story, then it should be told. My problem with the movie was that…bottom line…it wasn’t very good. The girl playing Aaliyah didn’t do a satisfactory job capturing her personality and made her come off like a callow brat. None of the actors who played the more notable characters were believable: Rashad, Missy, Tim, R. Kelly, I didn’t believe any of the actors in those roles. The only actors who seemed decent were the ones playing her parents and Barry, and half the reason for that was probably the GP doesn’t know enough about them to really critique how accurate those portrayals were. The reproduced music sucked. I’m disappointed because I expected more.

  20. E November 17, 2014

    Yeah pretty much the point is Aaliyah was still a trending topic good or bad. Wendy got her check so it doesn’t matter. What the ppl shuldve did is ignored it like anything else that’s irrelevant in the entrainment industry then she would’ve felt a certain way. They knew what they were doing. Possibly to put it a bogus film to mauve push the Haughton family to have to put something out better. Because I’d they leave the bs as a legacy reminder then that’s f***** up. Industry is evil point blank lbs

  21. VH1access Blog November 17, 2014

    She only did this movie to put her name as a producer. She didn’t even know one of her songs on twitter

    • BeyRihLiyah November 17, 2014

      and she got dragged to because it lol

  22. Sugar&Spice November 17, 2014

    The fact the movie is based on the book Aaliyah:More than a woman. They didn’t need the family’s approval,just the approval of the author which he gave for a nice sum. SMDH sad what people will do for money.

  23. SMH November 17, 2014

    Once again, the messy t***** falls flat on his knifed up face. Serves him right. He shouldn’t have disrespected the Haughtons wishes just for the sake of making a dollar. Now the moose has egg on its face. And that pic is simply HIDEOUS.

  24. ontherun November 17, 2014

    “Say it like you mean it”… unlesss its about yourself. What a contrived hypocritical beast of a woman

  25. ~The Arcade~ November 17, 2014

    I just feel like, this could’ve been an opportunity to enlighten people who may have not known a lot about Aaliyah, but instead what was witnessed was someone who did not embody her at all!

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