[dropcap]C[/dropcap]issy Houston issued a statement on Tuesday blasting the biopic. Even though Whitney Houston’s former co-star Angela Bassett is directing the film, the late pop star’s mother said that ‘no one connected with the movie knew Whitney.’
CISSY HOUSTON is not happy about Lifetime’s biopic about her late daughter.
The gospel singer issued a statement to Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday criticizing the network and those involved in making the television movie, which stars Yaya DaCosta as Whitney Houston and Arlen Escarpeta as her ex-husband Bobby Brown.
“Lifetime has chosen to go ahead with the movie about Whitney in spite of my family’s objections,” Houston said. “No one connected with this movie knew Whitney or anything about her relationship with Bobby.”
“In the two years since Whitney’s death, many people have stepped forward to speak about their close relationship with her,” she continued. “I find it difficult to believe people who knew and supposedly loved her would participate in a movie about her done by folks who didn’t know her.”
“We are exhausted by the continuing misinformation and comments offered by people who did not know her,” the statement concludes. “Please please let her rest.”
The octogenarian’s remarks are curious, considering that her daughter’s “Waiting to Exhale” co-star Angela Bassett is directing the film. Deborah Cox, who is recording vocals for the biopic, also knew Houston since they sang duet on the song “Same Script, Different Cast.”
But the “Greatest Love of All” singer’s mother is not the only family member who has expressed reservations about the Lifetime movie. Whitney Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown went on a Twitter rant about the film last month, including railing against Bassett for not casting her in the film.
Yaya DaCosta, left, plays Whitney Houston and Arlen Escarpeta, right, is Bobby Brown in Lifetime’s biopic about the late singer.
Yaya DaCosta, left, plays Whitney Houston and Arlen Escarpeta, right, is Bobby Brown in Lifetime’s biopic about the late singer.
Lifetime hasn’t had success in getting cooperation from family members when it comes to another high-profile biopic, which is about Aaliyah. A relative of the late R&B singer told the Daily News that her family was opposed to a Lifetime movie about the star.
“We want a major studio release along the lines of ‘What’s Love Got to Do with It,’ the Tina Turner movie,” said Jomo Hankerson, who was Aaliyah’s cousin and president of her label, Blackground Records.
Hankerson added that her clan was upset because they were not consulted about the Lifetime flick.
“They have people they can talk to, people who can provide lots of color,” Hankerson said. “But if you don’t talk to us, it’s not in the story.”
The Whitney Houston biopic is set to air on Lifetime in 2015, while the Aaliyah biopic is scheduled to air in the fall.
