Aaliyah Movie Cast 2014: Timbaland Says Alexandra Shipp Contacted Him Amid Slander, Told Her 'Do Your Research' [VIDEO]
Timbaland has spoken out in his first interview since slamming Lifetime's Aaliyah: Princess Of R&B and revealed lead actress Alexandra Shipp reached out to him during his rant.
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Timbaland, who was the brains behind many of Aaliyah's hits such as Are You That Somebody, spoke with The Breakfast Club in New York City Wednesday.
He told the hosts Shipp sent him a DM but would not disclose what she said. But he did say that he responded to her.
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"I wrote her back and I said, 'you should do research before entering it all. It's not against you. I just felt like whoever suggested that decision wasn't a wise decision.' That's all."
DJ Envy then asked what parts of the film (if any) were actually valid. Considering Lifetime did not get clearance from Aaliyah's family, DJ Envy is just one of countless fans who wondered what scenes in the movie had any truth to it. Timbaland admitted he did not even watch the film. He said he realized in hindsight that he actually gave it even more attention by criticizing it constantly on Instagram and Twitter. Still, from what he heard about certain scenes in the film, he was confident in saying many of it was not true.
"I gave it attention. I felt like, I knew what they were gonna say the next morning. It was a success... So for them, business is business. I never watched it. People was telling me and I was like, 'That didn't happen. That didn't happen.'"
Charlamagne brought up the example of a particular scene in which Aaliyah said she wanted to work with Timbaland and Missy Elliott, but her label shut it down because they did not have enough attention at the time. Timbaland said what really happened was he and Missy Elliott sent Aaliyah a demo of a particular song called Sugar & Spice. While Aaliyah did not like the lyrics, she liked the actual music and decided to work with them. The duo then headed to Aaliyah's hometown of Detroit and made their first two records with her, Hot Like Fire and One In A Million.
He added that they definitely got it "wrong" when casting him and Missy Elliott.
Aaliyah: Princess Of R&B was the second highest-rated TV movie of the year.
Check out Timbaland's interview below.
