'A whole bunch of lies': Sister of late Tejano singer Selena is outraged as it's announced Disney is distributing a TV series about her 1995 murder

  • Selena's 1995 murder by Yolanda Saldívar will be the subject of a new series distributed by Disney Media Distribution Latin America
  • The show will be based on the 1997 bestseller Selena's Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death by María Celeste Arrarás
  • The singer's sister Suzette Quintanilla, 49, has denounced the book as 'based on a whole bunch of lies' because Arrarás interviewed Selena's killer
  • Arrarás, 56, has defended her 'clear conscience' in response to calls for a boycott, calling her book 'the product of a serious and extensive investigation'

By Sameer Suri For Dailymail.com

Published: 13:57 EST, 18 January 2017 | Updated: 18:03 EST, 18 January 2017

A television series about the 1995 murder of Tejano singer Selena is in the works.

And her elder sister's far from pleased, as the show will be based on Selena's Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death, the 1997 book by journalist María Celeste Arrarás.

Disney Media Distribution Latin America, BTF Media, and Moconoco Y Latin WE are cobbling together the project.

Suzette Quintanilla has furiously denounced the venture, calling Arrarás 'full of crap' and the book 'based on a whole bunch of lies.'

Incoming: Disney Media Distribution Latin America, BTF Media, and Moconoco y Latin WE are cobbling together a series about Selena Quintanilla's life and murder

'It's a very different story from the official version that was recounted immediately after her murder,' said Arrarás of her book in the companies' official Spanish-language announcement, which she'd posted to Facebook Monday.

'It turns out that in the months prior to her death, Selena was not as happy as many thought,' per the three-time Emmy-winning reporter.

'She was living through a tumultuous moment, since she was surrounded by people that loved her but that wanted to manipulate her.'

Basis: Its source material will be Selena's Secret: The Revealing Story Behind Her Tragic Death, the 1997 book by journalist María Celeste Arrarás, who'd posted the companies' official Spanish-language announcement on Facebook this Monday

In Arrarás' view, 'Feeling pulled in different directions and torn inside, Selena was at the point of taking various decisions that would change her personal and professional life forever.'

The Al Rojo Vivo Con María Celeste hostess, who'd interviewed Selena's killer Yolanda Saldívar for the book, wrote of the Como La Flor singer: 'It was at this moment that a bullet silenced her life.'

Said she of televising her book: 'For many years, I've wanted to bring Selena's Secret to the screen, but it took me two decades to find the right team to do it.'

A preview of the show's content?: 'It turns out that in the months prior to her death, Selena was not as happy many thought,' per the three-time Emmy-winning reporter

Arrarás plugged: 'This true story of our beloved Selena has all the ingredients of a telenovela: lies, love, treachery, intrigue, superation, suspense and much more. It's a controversial but true story, handled with the utmost respect for her memory.'

The Puerto Rican reporter's got 'no doubt that just as the book became a bestseller, the production of this series will break audience records.'

Suzette Quintanilla's rather more sceptical that the forthcoming show will be entirely respectful of her late younger sister's memory.

'Most people don't think that I would come out and say something, 'cause normally, I avoid negativity,' she's fumed on her Instagram Story, 'but this is different.'

'Most people don't think that I would come out and say something': The singer's surviving sister Suzette Quintanilla has furiously responded to the forthcoming programme on her Instagram Story, calling Arrarás 'full of crap' and the book 'based on a whole bunch of lies'

'You, María Celeste, is full of crap. Your book is based on a whole bunch of lies. And you know where those lies came from? Your source is a person who killed - cold-heartedly murdered - my sister, shot in her in the back and left her to die.'

On a roll, she continued: 'It makes my stomach sick, to think that - what kind of world do we live in, where it's okay to have your source of somebody writing a book, the actual killer who took my sister's life?'

Amid calls for a boycott of the programme, Arrarás uploaded a Facebook status on Wednesday, penning an 'OPEN LETTER TO THE FANS OF THE BELOVED SELENA.'

Therein, she insisted that 'That boycott is based on the false premise that I wrote the book based on the testimony of the killer Yolanda Saldivar and that I did it to earn money by exploiting the memory of the dear Selena.'

'Where those lies came from': Quintanilla took particular objection to the fact that the Puerto Rican writer had interviewed Selena's killer Yolanda Saldívar for the book, saying: 'Your source is a person who killed - cold-heartedly murdered - my sister, shot in her in the back and left her to die'

Arrarás countered that Saldívar was 'infuriated after reading the book, which betrayed her as the person who lied to and manipulated Selena until her last breath.'

She also wrote that she'd donated '100 % of the proceeds of the book' in order 'to demonstrate that the book is the product of a serious and extensive investigation, never a vehicle to obtain money.'

Claiming a 'clear conscience,' she's written that 'My goal with the book was to share the findings of my research, which includes thousands of legal documents, testimonies, police reports and interviews.'

Fighting back: Amid calls for a boycott of the programme, Arrarás uploaded a Facebook status on Wednesday, in which she cited her 'clear conscience' and insists both that Saldivar hated her book and that she, Arrarás, donated the proceeds

Insisting of her book on Selena that 'There's not a single page that disrespects her or tarnishes her name,' she sniped: 'Anyone who says otherwise has another agenda and doesn't do it with the best of intentions.'

On March 31, 1995, Saldívar - who'd headed Selana's fan club and at one point managed the singer's clothing line Selena Etc. - shot the Tejano icon at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Selena was pronounced dead in hospital that day, and after an hours-long standoff, her killer was arrested, ultimately being found guilty of first-degree murder.

The culprit: On March 31, 1995, Saldívar - who'd headed Selana's fan club and at one point managed the singer's clothing line Selena Etc. - shot the Tejano icon at a Days Inn in Corpus Christi, Texas

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