Angela Bassett defends her Whitney Houston biopic against criticism from Houston’s family
During a recent interview with HuffPost Live, Angela Bassett, director of the Lifetime movie, starring former “America’s Next Top Model” contestant, Yaya DaCosta, as the late Whitney Houston, responded to Cissy Houston, Whitney’s mother, who recently expressed displeasure with the project, criticizing the team behind it to “Entertainment Tonight.” Bassett explains…
“I did spend a little time [with] her, but to know her intimately, intimately — I mean, who does but the person and the Lord they serve? Who knows a person? But I know a little about being in the spotlight, a little about celebrity and its demands, a little about trying to find a mate and the support that’s needed in your industry — mine being acting, hers [the] music industry. I know about being a woman, about being a black woman that came up in a little hometown … and yet you are able to become a success because of this God-given gift or talent. So I know a little bit about what it might have been like.”
Over the summer, Houston sat down with “Entertainment Tonight” where she criticized the team behind the project. “Lifetime has chosen to go ahead with the movie about Whitney in spite of my family’s objections. No one connected with this movie knew Whitney or anything about her relationship with Bobby,” she said.
Bassett however, argues that she did have a personal relationship with Whitney, which developed during the filming of the 1995 film “Waiting to Exhale.” While Bassett admits only God knows the late R&B diva intimately, she stands by her decision and belief that she is well equipped to tell Houston’s story on screen.
Do you agree with Bassett’s decision to direct the Houston biopic despite the distaste the Houston family has expressed about the project? – ruthie hawkins/@ruubabie
