Babyface has come forward to clear his name after Anita Baker claimed he gaslit fans to bully her, which ultimately resulted in him being removed from her tour.
On Thursday (June 22), the Grammy-Award winning songwriter appeared as a guest on The Jason Lee Show and started off by discussing what Lee described as an “R & Beef” between himself and the “Sweet Love” singer.
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Babyface made it clear that he loves Anita Baker and didn’t have an issue being a supporting act on the tour because both of them were coming together for the sake of the fans so they could hear great music.
The LaFace co-founder then explained there were many technical difficulties during the night everything went south on their joint tour, revealing that a video wall malfunctioned which caused the audience to be idle for nearly two hours.
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It was because of this he claims he was told not to go on stage while stagehands were trying to fix the issue and ultimately caused him to not be able to perform his set that particular night.
Finally, the “Whip Appeal” singer opened up about Baker’s claims that he gaslit her fans to cyberbully her on social media after he didn’t perform on that specific night.
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“The issue was, for me, the only reason why I ultimately posted something was because people were booing after they announced that I wasn’t coming on,” Babyface said. “[Fans] were pissed, and DM’s were coming in saying, ‘Babyface is a no-show,’ and I didn’t want that to be the story. I just tried to make an announcement to at least say, ‘Hey, I couldn’t go on tonight for technical difficulties. I was asked not to go on.'”
He added: “My love and respect for her is to the extent that, where she is and what she’s done in her career, and how she too has touched people with her music — I’m going to support that. That’s just who I am. And so, in all reality, for everything to have gone as crazy as it did, that was never my intention to ever think that it would, because that’s not my heart. I can’t believe that it rode out the way it rode out. Hence, there’s social media. And that’s what happens at this point.”
Check out Babyface’s interview below:
Babyface was kicked off Anita Baker’s tour earlier this month. Baker revealed she couldn’t take any more of the alleged abuse from Babyface’s fans online and announced that he had been cut from her Songstress Tour, which will continue throughout the remainder of 2023.
“After Silently, Enduring Cyber Bulling/Verbal Abuse & Threats of Violence from the Fan Base, of Our Special Guest/Support Act,” Baker wrote on Twitter at the time. “In the Interest of Personal Safety. I will continue, The Songstress Tour, alone. Appropriate refunds will be made. Blessings.”
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Babyface admitted he was “saddened” by the tour removal and the way things played out via social media:
“I am saddened by the news that Anita Baker has decided to remove me from The Songstress Tour,” he said. “It’s unfortunate and disheartening to see how things have played out via social media.”
He continued: “While I was looking forward to the rest of the dates, I have nothing but love and respect for Anita and I wish her the best with for the remainder of the tour.”
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Baker also responded to a series of tweets criticizing her, dubbing Babyface’s alleged “bully” fans as “Kenny’s Crazies.”
“There is A White man, behind these Grown Black Men… harassing Me & Gaslighting, My Fans,” she wrote while subliminally accusing somebody behind-the-scenes of the tour. “Because he Cant take over, this Tour… sO? He wants to Destroy it. Kenny’s Crazy Narcissist call off, your Boys.”
Anita Baker continued claiming the internet trolls wanted to “fight” her: “These trolls… are *On Massa’s payroll*. Creating Fake News/Slander & Harassment. This is what, happens, when Boundaries & Blessings, Manifest into Beautiful Karma & Growth. #AnitaBaker They wanna fight a 65 yr old Woman.”
While plenty of fans weighed in on the matter in the replies of both Anita Baker and Babyface’s respective posts at the time, R&B singer Tank put out a video defending Babyface and questioned Baker for sending one of his “heroes” home from the tour in an Instagram post last week.
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“It’s really hard for me to stand by and let one of my heroes and one of the nicest human beings ever just be attacked and vilified for no reason,” Tank said. “Someobody has to say something. When a man stands accused of something he hasn’t done anything.
“Now you kick him off the tour? I want to respect my elders — stay out of grown folks business is what they say, but somebody gotta say something. You’re doing this to Babyface?!”
