Ebro Darden has responded to Joe Budden over comments made on his podcast about Hot 97 Summer Jam having “seat fillers.”
On the latest episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, the former Slaughterhouse MC spoke about his somewhat jarring experience at this year’s Summer Jam, which was held at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York this past Sunday (June 4).
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Budden, who attended merely as a guest, recalled a conversation he had with an “older lady” who was part of the event staff when he arrived, saying she asked him if he was a “seat filler.”
“I go to the back and they got tickets for me, and I walk up to the back, just me, glasses on, hat low, and I’m looking at the other people around,” he explained. “I said, ‘Holy shit. I’m surrounded by people that listen to the fucking radio! Oh my God. I ain’t looked at y’all in so long.’
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“But it’s cool. I walk in with the radio-listening n-ggas — and we in Long Island, so this is a bunch that is happy to go to a — we ain’t seen no shit like this. This is a new theater here, new show in town, we are excited to just be here. You could feel the excitement.”
He added: “In Jersey, n-ggas is cool. Car show n-ggas with money is out, girls is out, there’s bottles, parking lot pimpin’ type shit. But anyway, I get there, the girl says, ‘Are you a seat filler?'”
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The question caught Budden’s co-hosts off guard, with one of them asking: “What does that mean? I hope it’s not what I think it is.”
“Well, she don’t know,” Budden continued. “She got a bunch of Long Island radio head people trying to bombard the back, this is their first time there … She don’t know! They’re not used to famous people wandering around.
“So I said, ‘No, I am not a seat filler.’ And she said, ‘Alright, who are you with?’ And I said, ‘Me.’ And then she said, ‘No, what I’m saying is what organization are you with?’ And then I said, ‘Ma’am, I don’t think you understand what I’m saying to you. I’m the organization. Please direct me to my fucking tickets.'”
Ebro, a long-serving Hot 97 host and the station’s former program director, caught wind of Joe Budden’s “seat filler” comments and addressed the potentially damaging situation on Twitter.
“[crying face emojis] U think a concert that only makes $$ on sponsors would pay people to be in seats? Ya’ll a wild bunch,” he wrote in response to a fan’s since-deleted tweet about Budden’s anecdote.
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Ebro then passed Budden’s comments along to the team that organizes Summer Jam — including Funk Flex and TT Torrez — in a group text and shared screenshots of their reactions.
“Most ridiculous lie ever told,” Torrez replied over text. “Trying to use his platform to dimension our brand when he was an invited guest to our show. I really don’t understand the reasoning for this!”
Flex, meanwhile, responded with a simple sunglasses emoji.
“Since I don’t manage Summer Jam any longer the team that does has a message for ya’ll…. And @JoeBudden [crying face emojis],” Ebro captioned the screenshots, tagging Budden directly.
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Budden, however, seemed perplexed by the drama and replied: “What’s this about?” to which Ebro wrote back: “Tweets. Play along. Say something controversial.”
In a separate tweet, Budden clarified that the woman who asked him if he was a “seat filler” didn’t even work for Hot 97 and that the whole thing is a “non story.”
“That lady didn’t even work for Hot… non story here,” he wrote in response to a fan who pointed out that he had merely recalled what the staff member had said to him, rather than make the allegations himself.
Check out the tweets below:
Since I don’t manage Summer Jam any longer the team that does has a message for ya’ll….
And @JoeBudden 🤣🤣 https://t.co/o9SmI8HFxOpic.twitter.com/1HxF4wP6Yy— the Old Man Ebro (@oldmanebro) June 8, 2023
Tweets. Play along. Say something controversial
— the Old Man Ebro (@oldmanebro) June 8, 2023
That lady didn’t even work for Hot… non story here.
— Joe Budden (@JoeBudden) June 8, 2023
