Teen star Zendaya recently announced that she will no longer play the role of Aaliyah in the upcoming Lifetime biopic.
Recently she took to Instagram to put rumors to rest and share her reasons for leaving the role.
“Let me just explain something. The reason why I chose not to do the Aaliyah movie had nothing to do with the haters or the people telling me I couldn’t do it, I wasn’t talented enough, or I wasn’t black enough. 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,” Zendaya stated.
She went on to say, “And 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 morally OK with moving forward with the project. With all that being said, congratulations to the new woman playing Aaliyah. I only hope that she does not have to deal with half the hate I had to deal with. And 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.”
Actress Alexandra Shipp, 23, recently announced that she is taking on the role of Aaliyah in the new movie.
