Babyface has been entertaining fans on Anita Baker‘s Songstress Tour, but those waiting to see him at N.J.’s Prudential Center on Wednesday never got the chance. In a post shared on his socials, the star explained that he was asked to take the night off so Anita could perform her full set following a delay to the show’s start.
“I am truly sorry to my fans who have been waiting for us to hit the stage this evening at @PruCenter,” he wrote. “I was asked not to perform in order to give Ms. Baker her space and time to perform her show in its entirety. My band and I are extremely saddened we didn’t get to perform for y’all tonight.”
According to reports, Anita’s show started two hours later than scheduled due to what the host said were “technical difficulties.”
“First of all I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight,” the host said, per videos shared on social media. “We did have some technical difficulties tonight. However, Ms. Baker isn’t going anywhere ya’ll she’s coming out tonight. Unfortunately because of these delays Ms. Baker wanted to be sure that she gave ya’ll the best that she could give. So unfortunately Babyface will no longer be performing.”
The news was met with supportive messages from some of Babyface’s peers, as well as boos and upset tweets from his fans. Amid the backlash, Babyface clarified that he wasn’t shading Anita but only updating his fans on the show.
“I would never shade Anita Baker. I have too much love and respect for her, and I look forward to continuing the tour,” he told TMZ. “I was just reiterating what the stage hand was saying following all of the tech difficulties.”
The Songstress Tour continues, wrapping December 23 in Oakland.
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