Even before its Nov.15 release, family, friends and fans have had strong opinions about Lifetime's biopic Aaliyah: The Princess of R&B. But the Internet was buzzing during its debut, as fan mocked the movie in memes and took to tweeting throughout the film.

Aaliyah:The Princess of R&B follows singer Aaliyah Haughton's journey to make it as an artist and actress before her tragic death in 2001. In her short success, the Grammy-nominated singer sold 3.7 million copies of her second album and starred in the films Romeo Must Die and Queen of the Dammed. Aaliyah tragically died with eight others in a August 2001 plane crash after leaving the Bahamas for a video shoot for the single "Rock the Boat." The "princess of R&B" was only 22. Since talks of the movie surfaced, Aaliyah's family have not supported the biopic. Controversy continued after Disney star Zendaya dropped out for the lead role, and Alexandra Shipp took her place. Fans criticized the biopic's poor casting, creating memes to mock it using the hashtag "LifetimeBeLike.


The biopic was also under fire for glorifying the romance between the teen and R.Kelly, who famously became her mentor, lead songwriter and producer for her debut album. Executive producer Wendy Williams said she wanted the "truth" to be told about their relationship. The couple married when the singer was 15 and R.Kelly was 28.

"I was like, Look, if you're going to make this Aaliyah movie, you gotta get it right, Lifetime," Williams said. "I love you, you're good at wives-who-stab-their-husbands movies, but you gotta get this Aaliyah movie right.' ... I want to hear about R. Kelly. ... Don't skate over it. This needs to be a big plot line."


The movie avoided touching on R.Kelly's history of sexual abuse and left out any mention of the couple's difficult annulment. Instead the movie glossed over their relationship, portraying them as star-crossed lovers.

Producer and friend of the late singer, Timberland, who was also depicted in the Lifetime movie showed his public disapproval by posting videos on his Instagram account. "This is why people should never remake movies. Bulls-t happens. Now you have to deal with the consequences," he says in one video.

Fans were also upset about the ending. Of course no one wanted to see the crash, but the biopic ended without including anything of her death. The film ends with Aaliyah saying goodbye to her boyfriend and driving off in a limo.

 Photo Credit: Getty Images

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