Who Will Play Aaliyah In The New Biopic?

Just a few weeks after hearing that Zendaya Coleman called it quits on the Lifetime-produced Aaliyah biopic, producers have finally found a new young star to play the late singer (remember all of the celebs who tried out in the first place?). According to The Hollywood Reporter, 23-year-old actress and Nickelodeon star Alexandra Shipp will play Aaliyah and production of “Aaliyah: Princess of R&B“ will continue this summer.

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The biopic, based on the book, “Aaliyah: More Than A Woman,” by Christopher Foley, is produced by Aaliyah Productions, Inc., notable producer Debra Martin Chase and — a major surprise — Wendy Williams! The talk show queen took to Twitter to announce her role as executive producer:

I’m excited to exec produce the Aaliyah @lifetimetv movie w/ @DebraMChase. Prod starts later this month and @AlexShipppp will play Aaliyah.

— Wendy Williams (@WendyWilliams) July 18, 2014

This is major for both Wendy and Alexandra. Who knew that Wendy was working behind the scenes to make Aaliyah’s story happen? And, who knew that producers could throw some shade by replacing a Disney star (Zendaya) with a Nickelodeon actress (Alexandra)? **sips tea** What do you all think of the casting this time around? We hope producers did the right thing and consulted Aaliyah’s family before making their decision. They were very candid about not being consulted in the first place. But, who knows?

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