Timbaland was—to say the least—not a fan of Lifetime's Aaliyah biopic, Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B.
The producer, who worked closely with the singer prior to her tragic death in 2001, voiced his disapproval on Twitter and Instagram, calling the movie "bulls--t" and urging fans not to tune in.
"This is why people should never remake movies. Bulls--t happens," he vented. "Now you have to deal with the consequences from me, Timbo, and the family..."
He didn't feel the actors playing himself and Missy Elliott onscreen were very well-cast, either. In response, he mocked this in a series of memes.
Elliott, while not as outspoken as Timbaland, shared her input as well.
@Timbaland no.. My prayers go to @Rad_6 & ma Diane to lose a sister & daughter then father they been thru so much??
? Missy Elliott (@MissyElliott) November 16, 2014The film's executive producers—Howard Braunstein, Debra Martin Chase, author Christopher Farley (whose book Aaliyah: More Than a Woman was the basis for the movie)—admitted to The Washington Post that the fan fury leading up to the premiere "was hard to ignore, but you can't dwell on it."
"Biopics are hard," Chase said. "People have an opinion and social media allows them to voice that opinion. But at the end of the day, our goal was to make the best movie possible."
"We're trying to honor this woman and tell this story of this journey and her overcoming obstacles," added Farley. "We felt we had enough of the music to still make a terrific film, and we're excited to tell the story we were telling."