Rihanna, Kanye West and Holly Robinson Peete are spazzing out! Get the alleged deets on why RiRi skipped out on her Grammy performance, 'Ye’s latest rant about being in debt and Holly reading the Grammys for their lackluster Natalie Cole tribute inside….
Rihanna was tapped to perform at this year’s Grammy Awards, but she cancelled minutes before she was set to hit the stage! She and her people cited "bronchitis" and doctor's orders to pull out last minute.
Today, new tea is spilling and there seems to be more to the story.
According to TMZ, sources tell them RiRi was hysterically crying and screaming before she bailed, but it’s still unclear WHY she was cutting up. She threw a MAJOR fit before leaving out.
The most credible update on the situation comes from Julie Chen, co-host of "The Talk" on CBS and wife of CBS' President Les Moonves. Since the Grammys air on CBS, she's got the inside track.
Julie commented today on the afternoon talk show about the situation, based on first hand info from the network itself. Unsurprisingly, there is zero truth to Rihanna bailing last minute after learning Beyonce would be there. (Which makes sense because Beyonce was only a surprise to the public watching, not the performers, producers or the network. They were aware before Monday that she would be there.)
There is truth, though, to the fact doctors told her she should rest her vocal chords....after she left the stage saying she didn't like how she sounded. There was also going to be a small skit involving James Cordon. Rihanna and James hadn't even yet rehearsed it before she had a melt down and left.
In addition to that, network sources say after her rehearsal that day, she simply didn't like how her performance sounded. We saw the rehearsal video, and she sounded her usual self.
Interestingly, the “Work” singer hit the stage to honor Lionel Richie at the MusiCares Person of the Year event (above) Saturday night and everything seemed fine then. But apparently, ish went left Monday and Rih decided NOT to hit the stage at the 58th Grammy Awards.
Kanye West is keeping up with his rants continue to download The Life of Pablo. (By the way, he said he's "never going back to Apple, so the album will not be on iTunes. Only TIDAL.)
Reports now state he went ballistic backstage at SNL before his performance this weekend. It went so far, Lorne Michaels (head honcho at "SNL") and Kanye's wife Kim had to come backstage to calm him down, minutes before the live show began. He was threatening to walk out....because he did't like how the set looked for his performance.
While most of us were recovering from the Grammys, Ye hopped on Twitter to addresses a few things that were on his chest. Like his $53 million debt! We’re surprised he didn’t pop off at Taylor Swift after her subtle clap back during her Grammy acceptance speech.
Nope. He had other things on his mind. In a series of tweets, he talks about people using his debt against him and then presented the idea of a fashion house bailing him out of debt. Really Ye? He then thanks Adidas for believing him and allowing him to create as he so pleases. Peep the tweets below (read from the bottom up):
We really want Ye to have a sitdown with his homie Rhymefest, soak in all he has to say and act on his advice.
In other news:
Folks are up in arms over the way the Grammys paid tribute to late 9-time Grammy Award winning singer Natalie Cole. And that includes YBF actress Holly Robinson Peete.
During the Grammy’s "In Memoriam" segment, the famed songstress’s tribute was placed in a minute long tribute with other late artists and musicians. Many felt she deserved way more than just a few-second tribute.
FYI – Natalie Cole passed away on December 31st as a result of heart failure brought on by idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH).
Holly hopped on Instagram to express her disappointment saying:
And she’s not the only one upset about. Natlatie’s siblings have spoken out and are just as outraged. "Sadly a FORGETTABLE tribute to Natalie Cole," Natalie's sisters, Timolin and Casey, told Entertainment Tonight."Words cannot express the outrage and utter disappointment at the disrespectful tribute, or lack thereof, to a legendary artist such as our sister."
Natalie’s son Robert Adam Yancy was just as upset telling ET,
"Here is a woman who has been in the business for four decades, had 21 GRAMMY nominations and won nine GRAMMYs. She deserves more than (to be a part of) a minute-and-a-half tribute. It was shameless the way they minimized her legacy. We will find solace in her legacy as well as her endless fans around the world."
No song tribute. No performance. Nothing like the Davie Bowie and B.B. King tributes.
The folks behind the Grammys heard about the outrage and have responded.
According to Billboard, the show’s longtime producer, Ken Ehrlich said, “Frankly, I think it was appropriate." He also thought the video clip was the most “touching and emotional” tribute he could have presented to his friend.
Hmph.
Ken continued,
“For the record, there was an email exchange, and I told Timolin what we were doing, and she seemed to be very happy with it. And what I told her is that we had talked about having an artist do something for Natalie; at one point I was playing around with ‘Miss You Like Crazy,’ because I love that song. But when I looked again at the Grammy show we did where she won for ‘Unforgettable,’ and I saw the last 45 seconds of that number, where her father (Nat King Cole, on the big screen) throws her a kiss, she throws him a kiss, and then she turns to the audience and throws everybody a kiss -- that just was so touching and so emotional to me that that felt like it had to be the end of the whole 'In Memoriam' segment. I hadn’t looked at that clip in several years, but when I saw it again, I knew it was right.”
Hmmm... If she was such a good friend, then why not have a special tribute for her including the clip? Sighs….
Thoughts? Should the Grammys have given her a better tribute?
Photos: Getty