Timbaland Said He Fell In Love With 16-Year-Old Aaliyah When He Was 23

Timbaland Admits That He Married His Wife Because She Reminded Him Of Aaliyah In Resurfaced Interview

Timbaland is currently trending on social media after an old interview resurfaced online, in which he made comments about his feelings towards the late R&B singer Aaliyah, leading to backlash from folks online.

Back in December of 2011, the superstar producer’s E! True Hollywood Story aired on E! and the 40-minute program has made him a topic of discussion.

The program recounted numerous occurrences in Timbaland’s life from childhood to him getting his footing in the music industry and more, he revealed that he was in love with Aaliyah.

“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.”

Timbaland and his music partner-in-crime Missy Elliott both met Aaliyah in 1995, when they worked on Babygirl’s 1996 effort, One in a Million. At the time, Aaliyah was 16 years old while Timbo was 23.

According to XXL, the same snippet from this 2011 episode resurfaced back in 2019, around the time when the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries aired on Lifetime.

See some reactions below:

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

Me: R. Kelly was 27 and dating a 15 year old Aaliyah. Timbaland was 23 and in love with a 16 year old Aaliyah.

Twitter: That was normal for that time.

— Reid (@RVAReid) March 10, 2021

R. Kelly, Timbaland, Jay-Z & Dame Dash all dated or tried to date Aaliyah before she was 21. And every one of those dudes were at least 7 years older than her.

— Reid (@RVAReid) March 10, 2021

Bro, watching that video of Timbaland saying he was in love with Aaliyah but she was a young ting so he became her “brother” instead just made me wanna reach in the TV and….. pic.twitter.com/UrGmVSW1rC

— Queen Macc (@ToshaMacc10) March 11, 2021

Me: R. Kelly was 27 and dating a 15 year old Aaliyah. Timbaland was 23 and in love with a 16 year old Aaliyah.

Twitter: That was normal for that time. pic.twitter.com/CjG6iIW2Aw

— A Blessing (@BLM_004) March 10, 2021

Rape culture towards Aaliyah had two grown ass men fail to protect her but decided that they fell in love with her as a minor and made it their entire personality. Fuck Timbaland, fuck R. Kelly and Fuck Justin Timberlake https://t.co/Z1Iuf6Odlv

— Shawn Rosell | Petty Guerrero (@shawngorlando) March 10, 2021