As music producer extraordinaire Timbaland celebrated his 49th birthday on Wednesday, some Twitter users acknowledged the quadragenarian’s special day by reminding folks on the social media platform that the hitmaker once admitted his love for the underaged singer, Aaliyah.
During an interview in 2011 on E! True Hollywood Story, Timbaland confessed that he caught feelings for the “Age Ain’t Nothin’ But A Number” singer. Aaliyah was just 16-years-old when she began working with the then-23-year-old man.
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“When I first met Aaliyah, it’s time for the world to hear this,” he said. “I’ma give up a little secret. I was in love with her. I said, but she’s just a baby. I’m old. I said to myself. I’m just gon’ be her brother. Oh man, I was fighting. I was fighting a big war, but I loved Aaliyah.”
Later in the video, the Virginia-native revealed that he married his former wife because of her uncanny resemblance to the singer.
“When I first saw her, I said that’s the girl I’ma marry because she reminds me of Aaliyah,” Timbaland explained, referencing Monique Mosley.
On March 8, the producer tweeted about Aaliyah saying, “This woman believed in me and missy sound and knew we were special!!!!!! There wouldn’t be no Timbodaking if it wasn’t for my baby girl, Aaliyah. Btw this was my 1st number.”
This woman believed in me and missy sound and knew we were special!!!!!! There wouldn’t be no Timbodaking if it wasn’t for my baby girl Aaliyah ♥️♥️♥️ btw this was my 1st number pic.twitter.com/73GGtlSIAr
— Timbaland (@Timbaland) March 8, 2021
Twitter users didn’t hold back their opinions of the creepy admission of love for the underaged teen.
Timbaland is a wild nigga for admitting that he married his wife because she reminded him of Aaliyah. Some shit just stay in your head.
— Reid (@RVAReid) March 10, 2021
Aaliyah was a victim, point blank period. She was a TEENAGER being groomed and pursued by 25 and 30 year old GROWN MEN. pic.twitter.com/yCAWvGdPhQ
— Justice 4 Breonna Taylor (@kellslaguna) March 10, 2021
People are so upset about Reid’s tweets about Aaliyah but it’s true. A lot of the men around her never allowed her to be a child/teen. And I don’t care how “normalized” you believe those age gaps were in the 90s. They were predators.
— Pastor Hot Girl (@AmandaDannielle) March 10, 2021
I think this news of the scores of adult men obsessed with and overt in their attraction to Aaliyah highlights how acceptable it is (even now) for men to prey on Black girls because y’all help them hypersexualize children. They wouldn’t do it if they were appropriately chastised.
— Kris Jong-Un (@bimboemoji) March 10, 2021
Aaliyah was surrounded around too many grown men at her age and wasn’t protected enough end of story
— 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐮𝐯𝐚⚜️ (@rebelleflowerr_) March 10, 2021
Timbaland isn’t the first older man who was obsessed with the underaged crooner. In 1994, convicted predator R. Kelly bribed a city official in Illinois and married Aaliyah when she was 15-years-old. The marriage certificate listed her age as 18, according to Biography.com.
Along with eight other people, the young singer died in an airplane crash on August 25, 2001.
