Zendaya Coleman Not Playing Aaliyah Anymore, Reason Revealed?
Zendaya Coleman is no longer going to portray the late singer Aaliyah Haughton in an upcoming biopic.
Aaliyah died over 12 years ago in a plane crash at the age of 22. After it was announced that singer and actress Zendaya,17, would portray the late singer a number of people spoke out against it.
Now it seems Zendaya will no longer be involved in the film.
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"Zendaya is no longer involved in the project," Zendaya's representative told E! News.
According to sources close to the publication, issues arose with production which included obtaining rights to Aaliyah's music. The late singer's family was not happy with the production of the film on a network such as Lifetime, and urged fans to support them in trying to stop the film from being made.
Jomo Hankerson, Aaliyah's cousin and president of her Blackground Records label, insisted that the actress is not the cause of the family protesting the movie.
"We want a major studio release along the lines of 'What's Love Got to Do with It,' the Tina Turner movie. This needs A-list actors, A-list talent that can breathe life into what we think is a phenomenal story," Jomo said in a previous New York Daily News Report. "I don't have a problem with her. It's never been about the actress."
Although Zendaya looks to Aaliyah as an inspiration and spoke about her involvement in the film previously, she also recently spoke about the importance of having the late singer's family approve of the film.
"The family was my number one concern. My important thing about this was the mother and the brother … and that Lifetime reached out," Zendaya told Access Hollywood previously. "I didn't feel comfortable until they did. So they're working on that and reaching out to the family to make sure everything's ok."
While it is unclear whether the film is still being produced, it seems unlikely that Zendaya will be a part of it.
