Dame Dash Slams Lifetime Producer Over Aaliyah Exploitation

Dame Dash is blasting Lifetime for allegedly exploiting him and Aaliyah, while filming for eOne’s reality tv series Growing Up Hip Hop. 

Dash called out Tara Long by name— the president of eOne’s unscripted television department—while sharing a clip from the set where everything went down. In the video, the hip-hop mogul is seen blowing up on members from Lifetime’s production crew before announcing his decision to quit the show. “You think you’re going to f***ing exploit me when it comes to Aaliyah?” Dash shouts. “I kept telling Tara to stop.”

While we don’t know exactly what went down between Long or other people on the set that prompted Dash’s response, this wouldn’t be the first time Lifetime has been accused of using Aaliyah’s tragic story for financial gain. This includes a widely-criticized biopic on the late R&B singer released in 2014 and the recent Surviving R. Kelly series released in 2019. 

For Dame, of course, topics surrounding Aaliyah are more personal. The two dated for years before her tragic death in 2001. “F*** Lifetime…I don’t need it,” Dame continues. “I got my own network…I’ll make my own documentary about Aaliyah.” 

While Dame specifically aired his grievances about Lifetime, his caption notes the general issue of the appropriation of black stories by white networks. “Why is it that the only way a black persons story can only be told on a network only if it goes through a white production company or it won’t get told,” the caption reads.