The producers of the forthcoming Aaliyah biopic have found another leading lady and Zendaya has decided to open up about her decision to drop out of the role.
The 17-year-old actress/singer posted a series of videos on Instagram in which she denied rumors that she could not handle the initial criticism of her casting, saying her decision had "absolutely nothing to do with that."
She went on to say lack of production value and music rights were the main reasons she exited the cast.
Zendaya also expressed that she felt the situation "wasn't being handled delicately." Considering the circumstances, she said, she felt morally obligated to remove herself.
In one of the videos, she shared that she tried to reach out to Aaliyah's family through a letter. Her gesture was to no avail, she claims.
Zendaya concluded her video by congratulating the film's newly casted actress, Alexandra Shipp, on the role of Aaliyah.
She said she hopes Shipp isn't met with all of the adversity she faced and left her critics with a positive message encouraging everyone to spread "motivation and love not discrimination and hate."
As previously reported, Shipp is best known for a recurring role on the Nickelodeon program House of Anubis.
She also has acting credits on Switched at Birth, Awkward and Victorious, according to iMDB.
Wendy Williams has also entered the project as an executive producer.
Production on the movie, entitled Aaliyah: Princess of R&B was halted for the majority of July after Zendaya exited filming. Now with a new star on board, production on the film is set to resume this summer.
The movie has a tentative release date planned for fall of this year.
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