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After months of criticism from Whitney Houston’s family, Angela Bassett is standing up for her upcoming biopic on the late singer.

In an interview with HuffPost Live on Monday, Bassett disputed claims from Houston’s mother Cissy regarding those behind the film. In a statement, Cissy Houston expressed her feelings on the Lifetime network’s decision to broadcast the project saying:

“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.”

Despite Cissy’s statement, Bassett did share a friendship with Whitney that developed when the two worked on the 1995 film adaptation of Terry McMillan’s novel “Waiting to Exhale.”Bassett will direct the Whitney biopic, which will feature Yaya DaCosta as the legendary vocalist.

Citing her personal relationship with Houston as well as some of her favorite stories from the movie, Bassett explained why she feels she is qualified to bring Whitney’s story to the small screen.

“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,” Bassett told HuffPost Live’s Caroline Modarressy. “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.

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(Photo Source: AP/Video Source: Huffington Post)