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Hot 97 Summer Jam 2023

Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty

Joe Budden’s recent comments about being at Summer Jam apparently rubbed some the wrong way, prompting Ebro Darden to call him out online.

The rapper and media personality spoke about being at the recent HOT 97 Summer Jam concert at UBS Arena in Elmont, New York on the latest episode of The Joe Budden Podcast. Attending as a guest, Budden spoke about meeting an “older lady” as part of the event staff at the arena.

While making good-natured jokes about the vibe, he recalls: “But anyway, I get there, the girl says, ‘Are you a seat filler?’” He continued: “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 f*cking tickets.’”

Ebro Darden found out about Budden’s comments through a fan’s now-deleted tweet, responding: “U think a concert that only makes $$ on sponsors would pay people to be in seats? Y’all a wild bunch,” which was accompanied by crying face emojis. The former program director for HOT 97 then alerted the team overseeing Summer Jam – which includes Funkmaster Flex and TT Torrez – about the Slaughterhouse MC’s remarks via Twitter and shared screenshots of their responses.

Budden was perplexed in his response, asking, “what’s this about?” Ebro replied, “Tweets. Play along. Say something controversial.” In a separate tweet, he responded to someone who told him that the furor was in response to his podcast comments. “That lady didn’t even work for Hot… non story here,” he replied, taking the time to clarify that his “seat filler” reference wasn’t meant as a shot towards the radio network.