Not everybody was feeling the idea of bringing back Verzuz exclusively to X, nor the Juneteenth announcement that the producers were working with Elon Musk.Photo: Getty Images North America
TeeRoy's 2 Cents:
- While Verzuz was a must-watch during lockdown, it will be interesting to see if it remains as relevant years later.
- What battles (or rematches) are you still waiting to see?
- It’s clear that Swizz and Tim are putting profits over people.
- This is extra gross when you consider both Swizz and Tim’s money should be more than long enough to quickly turn down an offer like this an never think about it again.
Timbaland and Swizz Beatz’s latest money move -- to bring back Verzuz -- is proving polarizing.
The Verzuz co-founders took to social media on Wednesday to announce a new deal to exclusively livestream Verzuz battles on the platform formerly known as Twitter, X. While the super producers are celebrating this as a win, touting that, “Verzuz is back and 100-percent Black-owned again,” it’s safe to say that they didn’t anticipate the reaction to the announcement, which blew up in their face. The polarizing post included a picture of both guys posing with X-owner Elon Musk on a boat, with glasses raised, and the words “Happy Juneteenth” in the caption.
Here’s what people are saying:
- This is straight clownery. How does this help the culture being in business with a person whose ideology is against an entire group of people?
- So, we are selling the culture to the highest bidder only for it to be white washed?
- Posting this man on Juneteenth is not a flex what the [heck[ This is not it. Elon will never be a good destination for us.
- I will NEVER support a platform that Elon Musk is a part of. Huge “L” fellas…and on Juneteenth,
- Gross! Clinking glasses with a whole white supremacist on Juneteenth. Bye
- The culture is fractured. Grifters will grift when the right opportunity is presented for them to prosper. This is all about I and not about We. Don’t be fooled. And the audacity to announce this on today is laughable. Unbelievably embarrassing.
- I think it should be a recording of Malcolm X’s speech “Who Taught You to Hate Yourself”
- Announcing Verzuz is 100-percent Black-owned again, building on X, and toasting it up with the racist is crazy.
Swizz and Timbaland are yet to respond to criticism of their new venture, but the initial announcement suggested that the new partnership runs deeper than just providing a home to the once fan favorite hit-for-hit rap battle series. They wrote, “We will also be building new entertainment businesses on the X platform… never give up on your dreams on your company.”