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Artist News Gigs & Festivals
Anita Baker drops Babyface from her US tour after social media grief from his fans
By Chris Cooke | Published on Thursday 15 June 2023
Anita Baker has announced that she is dropping Babyface as the support act on her current US tour because of grief she has been getting from his fans.
The two musicians announced plans to tour together late last year. Things seemed to be going fine with that tour until a show in Newark, New Jersey last month where technical problems resulted in a later than anticipated start time. With Baker keen to still perform a full set, Babyface’s performance was pulled.
That resulted in lots of angry Babyface fans, who have seemingly been giving Baker grief on social media ever since. On Twitter earlier this week, she said that the outrage from Babyface’s fanbase was partly due to a misunderstanding about the tour, with some reckoning it was a co-headline tour rather than him being her support act. And, with that in mind, she added, Babyface should clarify some things to his fans.
“Babyface is special guest / support act on my tour”, she tweeted. “This false narrative, of a co-headliner, is creating unrealistic expectations and aggression from his fans towards me. He should tell you guys the truth”.
Then on Tuesday, she returned to social media to declare that “after silently enduring cyberbullying, verbal abuse and threats of violence from the fanbase of our special guest / support act, [and] in the interest of personal safety, I will continue The Songstress Tour alone. Appropriate refunds will be made”.
Responding, Babyface said in a statement: “It’s unfortunate and disheartening to see how things have played out via social media. 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 for the remainder of her tour”.
