As Def Jam celebrated its 30-year anniversary Thursday with a massive Barclays Center blowout featuring performances by Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Fabolous, DMX, Foxy Brown and many others, one promised guest failed to grace the stage. Jhené Aiko‘s absence was noticed, as the young up-and-coming singer is widely seen one of the faces of the label’s future.
The “The Worst” singer explained what happened on Instagram, after a fan asked about it on an unrelated post. The text has since been deleted but has been preserved via the Fader, where Aiko blames a male “worker” for physically assaulting a member of her team and being generally disrespectful.
On a #tbt photo Jhene posted with her daughter, user @ladiidestiny wrote, “@jheneaiko I love you n your music but explain y you weren’t at Barclays tonight?! your fans wanna know! (We still love you tho lol)”
Backstage Pass / Def Jam 30th Anniversary: The Sound of ‘Culture, Art and Lifestyle’
Aiko responded: “@ladiidestiny unfortunately me and my camp were told to “get the f*** out” by “workers” while I was waiting to go on stage, ….after this “worker” (male) physically assaulted a member of my management (female) ….we had to leave due to the disrespect and hostile environment. If there’s one thing I can’t rock with, it’s disrespect…. if me and my band members were any of the rappers that were performing there, we would have never been talked to or treated in such a way. I’m sorry that I was unable to perform for you tonight…. hope to see you soon!”
Billboard has reached out to Def Jam’s for comment.