With the help of Yaya DaCosta, Deborah Cox's vocals and superb direction from Angela Bassett, Lifetime networks received praise for the "Whitney" biopic that aired on Jan. 17. Yaya's passionate performance of the late icon certainly did Whitney Houston justice, as she portrayed the veins in her neck and the way she shrugged her shoulders on stage perfectly. Deborah Cox, who recorded a song with Whitney before she passed, altered the tone of her voice to sound like her idol. She did it so well that many got chills listening to the re-recorded versions of her songs.

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Still, though many fans enjoyed the film, Whitney's family did not support the effort at all. In a statement posted to WhitneyHouston.com just before the movie aired. Her close relative Pat Houston warned, "Lifetime is notorious for making bad biopics of deceased celebrities and brace yourself for the worst."

She also noted that she did not know about the movie until three days before it came out. Her daughter, Whitney's niece, told her that people in her school asked her about the film. "She did not get it - that a woman who claimed to be her aunt's friend would direct a movie that seems so unloving towards her Aunt, and how it could affect her cousin Krissi," Pat wrote of their exchange.

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The statement continued, "I don't think it ever entered their minds that they were assaulting the legacy of another individual; they just want the job or the opportunity to shine. But to do so in such an incredible way, to go after someone who cannot correct what you get wrong, someone who - like so many people, and especially women - struggled to hold up their humanity and live with dignity despite their personal challenges, is wrong."

"Never would Whitney allow her story to be told by an inexperienced team and how naive of anyone to think otherwise, unless you're caught up in illusions of grandeur that you can just do anything and people will accept it. This made for TV movie is certainly not a trailer to Whitney's life story," she wrote.

Angela Bassett responded on Twitter saying, "I respect their feelings & hope when they've all seen it, they'll understand how hard I worked to honor an icon & God's child."

But, fans seemed to enjoy the film. Though it barely showed Whitney's career, it portrayed a passionate love story between herself and Bobby Brown. Fans shared their reactions on Twitter:

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What did you think of the movie? Let us know in the comments, below.

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