The Associated Press issued an apology on Monday after an interview with two of its reporters went viral for cutting off producer Babyface to talk to Chappell Roan on the Grammys red carpet Sunday night.
“We are deeply sorry for cutting our interview with Babyface short on our YouTube livestream of the Grammys red carpet,” the AP said in a statement. “We have apologized to him through his representative and to our viewers on the livestream.”
During an interview with the music legend, the AP’s two reporters spotted Grammy-winning Roan in the background and started hollering for her to come over.
“You guys want to do that? Go do that,” Babyface said, graciously handing back the mic and stepping aside with a smile.
“So sorry, Babyface. So sorry,” the other half of the interviewing pair said before they both turned their attention to Roan. But the moment quickly circulated online and reaction on social media wasn’t kind to the AP’s reporters.
“This is so disrespectful how Babyface was treated in this interview,” Khloé Kardashian said on X. “Babyface has had such a significant impact on the music industry, in sooo many ways. It’s maddening to see a LEGEND not get the respect and attention they deserve. He is a pioneer and deserves so much better than this.”
Kardashian concluded: “Big or small, old or new — you don’t treat people like this. At least, not in my eyes. There’s a way to handle this and this was wrong in my opinion.”
Boyz II Men member Shawn Stockman, and friend of Babyface’s, also expressed his dismay on Instagram, saying, “That would never happen in the NFL or the NBA. You would never disrespect Magic Johnson. Because there’s a level of understanding of what those particular human beings brought to that respective profession. But it seems to be the opposite in the music industry. The industry tends to have a really bad habit of doing very disrespectful things to people that should be honored.”
Stockman said bluntly: “What those two people did to that legend is f–ked up.”
