Judge blocks broadcast of Bobbi Kristina Brown biopic
A New York judge has temporarily blocked the broadcast of an unauthorized Bobbi Kristina Brown biopic.
The tragic 22-year-old's final days have become the subject of a TV One film, titled Bobbi Kristina, and had been due to air in the U.S. next month (Oct17).
However, singer Bobby Brown filed suit earlier this month (Sep17), claiming his depiction as a bad dad and violent husband to late ex-wife Whitney Houston, Bobbi Kristina's mother, is defamatory.
Administrators for his late daughter's estate subsequently joined him in the legal battle in a bid to shut down the project for good, insisting the biopic violates Bobbi Kristina's right to privacy, and together, they demanded over $2 million in damages.
The judge overseeing the dispute has since issued a temporary ban on the film airing, and ordered the warring parties to appear in court on 29 September (17) to argue their case, reports the New York Post.
The judge will decide at a later date whether or not to grant an official order to permanently bar the movie's release.
Sources previously told TMZ that Bobby is not unhappy with the depiction of his late daughter onscreen by actress Joy Rovaris, but he's far from pleased with the way he comes across in the film.
In court documents obtained by the outlet, Bobby claimed the movie suggests he was physically abusive towards Whitney and was unloving towards their only child.
Hassan Johnson portrays Brown in the new film, while The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Demetria McKinney plays Houston.
Bobbi Kristina died in July, 2015, six months after she was placed in a medically-induced coma following a drowning incident at the home she shared with her boyfriend Nick Gordon in Georgia.