Fans were bummed to hear that the Sunday (April 5) Instagram Live battle between Babyface and Teddy Riley was postponed. The battle was cancelled with little to no explanation, but Riley has come forward with the real reason why the highly-anticipated battle was rescheduled.
“There is no backout,” he told Charlamagne tha God on Instagram Live. “Nobody is backing out. Babyface is moving forward, he’s not actually 100%. He’s been sick.”
If you’ve watched any of the other live battles, you would’ve noticed that after an hour, the live will automatically end. Both artists then have to go live with each other again. Riley wants to make sure that doesn’t happen during his battle.
“We pulled back because we really want this right,” he continued. “We don’t want the [feed to stop after an hour on]…Instagram. That’s the main reason why.”
The super producer also hinted that the battle will now happen on “a new system” where fans will be able to “swipe up” to watch it live.
“The company that I’m a partner of, I thought that this is something that would be great for them to take this to another level,” he added.
Riley also said that he wants there to be celebrity mediators during his head-to-head face-off with Babyface.
“We both have the respect for each other and that’s the one thing plus that’s my big brother,” Riley said.
Fans on Twitter have mixed reviews about the new way that this battle will be held. They believe that Riley will start charging fans to view the battle through this new system.
One fan tweeted, “Are people mad at Teddy Riley for not giving Instagram millions of dollars for free? This culture has no interest in ownership when it comes to entertainment.”
Another fan tweeted, “Teddy Riley done tried it. Talking about ‘There’ll be a link through IG for you to click the actual battle. We gone have moderators.’ If you think we’re all paying for this — think again.”
Check out Riley’s explanation below.