The producers of The American Music Awards are finally speaking out after massive backlash over the cancelation of the surprise Chris Brown performance which was to serve as a Michael Jackson tribute on this past Sunday night’s ceremony.
The R&B superstar was slated to take the stage in honor of the 40th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller,’ but Chris took to social media the day before the show to reveal that the AMAs scrapped his performance for unknown reasons.
He also shared footage of his rehearsals confirming that there indeed was a planned set, which was later also confirmed by singer, Ciara who also took to social media to co-sign Breezy. Ciara confirmed that she too was part of the tribute and shared her own rehearsal footage of the two.
Fans instantly took to social media demanding an explanation as to why the tribute was axed with no notice to the performers or fans who were now aware of it.
Fans also called for a boycott of the show after it was reported that the cancelation was alleged to have been due to concerns surrounding Brown’s previous domestic dispute issues, and alleged child molestation claims against Jackson.
It appears as though the boycott seemingly worked as the show drew in its lowest ratings in the history of the show with 3.3 million total viewers.
Breezy threw a little shade in his Instagram Story, by reposting a headline of the ratings and adding the face palm emoji. “I’ll just leave this here,” he wrote alongside a video of his rehearsals.
Chris Brown reacts to #AMAs’ all-time low viewership last night amid drama with the show:
“🤦♂️” pic.twitter.com/0wlgpklvHi
— Buzzing Pop (@BuzzingPop) November 22, 2022
After feeling the heat, the producers of the show have now come forward with a statement.
On Monday, in a statement to ET, a DCP (Dick Clark Productions) spokesperson clarified that the tribute being pulled was a matter of creative direction and no fault of Brown’s.
“Live shows change all the time, it’s the nature of this business; unfortunately, this element of the AMAs didn’t come together as we couldn’t align on the performance, to no fault of Chris Brown,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, fans have taken to social media to petition for the performance to find its way on another platform either a streaming service, the upcoming Grammy’s, or another outlet or show.
