Saturday night’s premiere of “Whitney,” a Lifetime Original Movie, proved to be an absolute success, nabbing 4.5 million total viewers, including a social media takeover.
Although this rating made “Whitney” Lifetime’s most-watched program across all demographics since 2014’s “Flowers in the Attic,” it wasn’t enough to dethrone Flowers’ rating of 6.1 million.
The Houston biopic, which stars former “America’s Next Top Model” contestant Yaya DaCosta as the late pop superstar and Star Trek’s Arlen Escarpeta as Bobby Brown, was also the most tweeted about telecast of the day.
The movie, directed by Angela Bassett, was the subject of criticism by relatives of the singer, who died in February 2012.
The family issued a statement on WhitneyHouston.com ahead of Saturday’s broadcast, warning fans to “brace themselves for the worst.”
“If you watch this movie, watch it knowing that Lifetime is notorious for making bad biopics of deceased celebrities and brace yourself for the worst,” Pat Houston wrote.
While the movie itself lured 4.5 million viewers, Lifetime claims that the entire evening programming block, which included two specials afterward: “Bobby Brown: Remembering Whitney,” and “Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances,” nabbed a whopping 11.8 million total viewers.
