Disney star Zendaya Coleman will not portray the late singer Aaliyah in Lifetime's upcoming biopic. The television network announced on June 16 that the 17-year-old actress and singer was cast as Aaliyah in the tentatively titled, "Aaliyah: Princess of R&B."
A rep for Coleman confirmed the departure to E! News and blamed it on production issues. Reportedly Lifetime is having a difficult time obtaining the rights to Aaliyah's music. When the casting was first announced, Lifetime said Coleman would sing four of Aaliyah's songs in the biopic.
"Aaliyah has always been an inspiration to Zendaya," the source told E!. "She was honored to portray her and pay tribute to her. If she's going to do it, she wants to do it right."
Shortly after Coleman's departure was announced, Lifetime tweeted, "We are sad Zendaya will no longer portray Aaliyah. Production is currently on hold."
The movie was supposed to begin filming this summer and was scheduled to air in the fall. There were rumors that Rihanna would be replacing the Disney star but Lifetime has yet to confirm. According to Media Take Out, producers were scrambling to find someone else to portray the "Rock the Boat" singer after the movie started to receive a ton of backlash.
Fans weren't so much upset over the casting decision, but did not like that Lifetime was going to produce a movie about Aaliyah without getting the permission of the late singer's family. In the past the family has made it clear that they did not want a film made about the singer, who died at the age of 22 in a place crash on Aug. 25, 2011.
"The [Zendaya] backlash is huge," a source told Media Take Out. "Either the network is going to have to replace her, or shut down production. Right now they're negotiating with Rihanna to play Aaliyah. And [Rihanna's] interested."
According to a press release, the biopic will focus on the life of Aaliyah from her debut on "Star Search" and rise to fame leading up to her tragic death.
Should Lifetime continue with the Aaliyah biopic or completely scrap the project?
