On Saturday night, over 400,000 people went to Instagram to watch the much-anticipated battle between Babyface and Teddy Riley. Bobby Brown was pumped. Jamie Foxx was hype. And the fans couldn't wait to see the veteran hitmakers finally square up. Bu unfortunately for viewers, the broadcast was far from smooth.
Technical difficulties plagued the stream, specifically on Teddy Riley's side, causing sound problem after sound problem. It seemed as though the issues would never be resolved, which prompted Babyface and Riley to simply throw in the towel. Swizz Beatz, who organizes the Verzuz series with Timbaland, addressed the premature ending on his own Instagram, reassuring fans the battle would air at a later time.
"Tonight, shit happens, man ... I'm actually cool with stopping the event to make sure it go right ..." Swizz told his followers. "A lot of people dressed up for tonight, a lot of people was in there for tonight, but we're gonna put it back onâit's going to be amazing. But we gotta respect those legends ... I know when to call. We got to call it ... Babyface put in too much work, Teddy put in too much, Babyface put in too much work."
After the Live ended, Babyface thanked fans for joining in on the experience. He also promised that the battle would be scheduled for a later time once all the kinks were worked out.
Naturally, Twitter users had a lot to say about the stream. Check out reactions below.
âIâm here by myself. You know SOCIAL DISTANCING and all that.â-Babyface
The reverse of this image pic.twitter.com/N0DhPcbpXL
When you got Mariah Carey snapping on you in the comments, you jus gotta take your ball and go home đđđđđ€Šââïž pic.twitter.com/BBzUnYYND9
Another battle we wouldâve seen tonight wouldâve been Tyrese Vs Spell Check cause lord KNOWS heâs the underdog in that fight. Ight man Iâm done lol pic.twitter.com/AgGcCX27ad
Tyrese: THROW IN THE TILE pic.twitter.com/5MIZDiODsK
Teddy Riley had 2 Big MC, The Bethany Baptist spirit hand dancers, drummers, 2 smoke machines, keyboards and a choir. And the couldnât fix a friggin echo. đ€
Babyface rejecting Teddy Riley calls and texts while going to bed. pic.twitter.com/CkQrahfA3f
Tamar Braxton was especially mad at Riley for ruining date night.
The event was originally scheduled for early April, but was pushed back after Babyface and his family had tested positive for COVID-19. Timbaland promises the battle will return better than before.
And Riley addressed the issues on Instagram, telling fans that they will do it again.
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