On Sunday, October 8, the Bobbi Kristina biopic aired on TVOne. As expected, the film received mixed reviews. Many Whitney and Bobby fans didn’t exactly see the purpose of highlighting Bobbi Kristina’s struggles. Many other fans thought it was a done in a very respectful way and the actors’ portrayals were on point. It’s quite obvious Bobby Brown had a similar opinion of the film as he filed a lawsuit in hopes of preventing the network from airing the film, but to no avail. It’s probably safe to say TVOne may have speculated that Bobby’s lawsuit would be great publicity for the film but unfortunately, things didn’t exactly go according to plan. Apparently, it looks like the film has backfired on the network.

Extremely Poor Ratings:

Although the film ranked highly among African-American viewers, the film plummeted in comparison to all of the other Sunday evening broadcasts. According to Sandra Rose, the film premiere only drew 660,000 viewers. In response to Bobby Brown’s lawsuit, it was revealed that the series of events depicted in the film was loosely based on the producers’ interactions with the family when they filmed the Bravo reality TV series, Being Bobby Brown. But despite the creators claiming to base the film on factual information, fans either weren’t interested in watching the biopic, or many of them didn’t know it actually aired.

Bobby Brown Not Done With TVOne Yet:

The latest news about the film’s premiere comes after Bobby Brown lost his bid to stop the premiere of the film. At the time, TVOne released a statement about the court ruling: “We are pleased with the court’s ruling and look forward to sharing this poignant look at the life of Bobbi Kristina Brown with our audience.” Although the network still managed to air the film, they are still faced with a defamation lawsuit in motion. Bobby Brown alleges that he was poorly depicted in the film. “[T]he Defendants’ movie contains defamatory untrue depictions of [Bobby] having dinner with [Bobbi Kristina] and scenes suggesting that [Brown] does not love his daughter or is committed to his daughter,” the lawsuit reportedly read.

Bobby Brown may have lost the battle, but it looks like he still may win the war. If Bobby manages to win the defamation lawsuit, TVOne may have done better leaving well enough alone. But only time will tell how that legal situation turns out.