Lifetime's Aaliyah movie remains a hot topic of discussion a week after its original television premiere. There are those like Timbaland, who feel the biopic wasn't an accurate depiction of the late "Rock The Boat" songstress. And then there are those like LL Cool J, who came to the network's defense, saying Hollywood is still learning how to cast black people. All in all, the film has received its fair share of criticism.
While the legendary rapper says there are things he could have criticized about the film, LL Cool J says fans should appreciate the fact that Lifetime decided to honor her life.
"There are parts of the movie that I could criticize, but at least at the end of the day, Lifetime is celebrating one of our icons, a young lady who obviously left too soon and was tremendously talented," he said during a recent interview with Rickey Smiley, per Sister2Sister.
The women's magazine also notes that LL didn't seem surprised that Alexandra Shipp wasn't exactly a dead-ringer for the role of Aaliyah. He points out that Hollywood is still working on some things when it comes to casting.
"Hollywood is still working on that part of learning how to cast black people," LL noted. "I think that in general, the movie was insightful and it was interesting and that girl, she played that role in a sweet way."
The film's producer, talk show host Wendy Williams, recently addressed her critics during the Hot Topics forum of her show.
"I see my Aaliyah movie broke the Internet this weekend! Errbody got an opinion. Well, I must tell you, whether you loved or hate, you watched," Williams said.
During the film's original airing, Timbaland, who frequently collaborated with Aaliyah, called the film "bulls--t" in a video posted to his Instagram account.
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