Ashanti and Keyshia Cole’s Verzuz battle has been postponed for a second time, organizers of the beloved series announced on Friday (Jan. 8). In a statement, Verzuz organizers cited COVID-19 concerns as the reason for the delay and revealed that the series will be returning to its virtual format.
“This has been an emotional week,” the statement read. “In addition, as COVID-19 numbers continue to increase, safety is a top priority for us. As much as we enjoy having everyone together in the same room, to protect the artists and everyone who works with us in putting the shows together, we’ll be going back to separate locations for a bit.”
“We’re excited for the next few events, and look forward to getting back to the show in the coming weeks,” the message added.
So far, a rescheduled date for Ashanti and Keyshia’s face-off has not been announced; the statement only said that the battle is “coming soon.” The R&B mashup was initially planned for last month, but was postponed to Saturday (Jan. 9) after Ashanti was diagnosed with Coronavirus. Thankfully, the “Foolish” singer revealed, she officially recovered from the disease last week
“Starting off the new year amazing and COVID free!!!” she wrote in an Instagram post on Jan. 2. “Got my negative results back [two] days ago!”
“Feeling grateful,” she added. “My parents and I got our negative results back right in time to start off the New Year healthy, happy & loved.”
Earlier this week, Bun B revealed that a Verzuz battle between Texas rap group UGK and Memphis duo 8Ball & MJG is also in the works.
“It’s kind of pushed back. Everything’s kinda pushed back because of the Ashanti and Keyshia Cole [battle], and they’re still trying to find the right times to do a lot of this stuff, but I would imagine before the summer,” Bun said on the “The Donnie Houston Podcast.” “We’ve been talking about it since Verzuz started last year.”
See Verzuz’s latest announcement below.