Anita Baker excited her legion of fans after announcing her current The Songstress tour alongside Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds in support of the 40th anniversary of her debut solo album but there appears to be trouble afoot. The legendary vocalist announced on Tuesday (June 12) that she will be continuing the tour alone without support from Babyface due to what she says is “cyber bullying” from fans.
Anita Baker took to Twitter to write, “After Silently, Enduring Cyber Bulling/Verbal Abuse & Threats of Violence from the Fan Base, of Our Special Guest/Support Act. In the Interest of Personal Safety. I will continue, The Songstress Tour, alone. Appropriate refunds will be made. Blessings.”
Babyface added his own statement via Twitter, stating that the news that he was dropped from the tour “saddened” him.
“I am saddened by the news that has decided to remove me from “The Songstress Tour,” began the statement.
It continued with, “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.”
As reported by Deadline, the issue dates back to May 10 when Babyface tweeted that he was not going to appear on one of the dates.
“I am truly sorry to my fans who have been waiting for us to hit the stage this evening at @PruCenter,” Babyface tweeted. “I was asked not to perform in order to give Ms. Baker her space and time to perform her show in its entirety. My band and I are extremely saddened we didn’t get to perform for y’all tonight.”
The tweet sparked a vicious barrage of attacks from Twitter and Baker asked the fans to cease the bullying but it had reached a fever point apparently.
Anita Baker will conclude the tour this December in Oakland, Calif.
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Photo: Getty
