Just hours before the scheduled face-off, Swizz Beatz, who has curated the hip-hop and R&B battles, made the announcement about the highly-anticipated match. He quickly took to social media where he informed the masses that had been anticipating the battle that there had been a sudden change in plans. He did not elaborate on what led to the change in circumstances, but the disappointment was evident among fans. He still assured them, however, that neither Teddy Riley nor Babyface had backed out amid online speculation. 

“The date is changed but keep your outfits on deck because the new date is coming back ASAP and we’re taking the quality to the next levels for these 2 Kings #VERZUZ!!!!!!! [Timbaland], let’s go!!!! You will understand later trust me!!!!!”

In a livestream interview with Charlamagne Tha God, Riley cleared up any lingering misconceptions as to why their match was delayed too. “There’s no back out. Nobody’s backing out. Babyface is moving forward,” he clarified to Charlamagne via Instagram Live. He added that Babyface had been “sick” and hasn’t been feeling “100%,” however.

Nevertheless, Riley said that they opted to reschedule the match so they can come back with a high quality set-up that they believe the fans deserve. “We pulled back because we really want this done right. We don’t want the stops from Instagram. So that’s the main reason why,” he elaborated. Riley then hinted that the battle might possibly be broadcast via a “new system” through a company that he’s a partner of. Viewers will still be able to swipe up and watch from Instagram just the same as the other battles. Additionally, their match will be monitored by celebrity mediators.

“I thought that this is something that would be great for [the company I’m a partner of] to take this to another level,” he explained. Thus far, no new date for the match has been announced just yet. But, Riley assured everyone that “you’ll get everything that you get on Instagram.” 

Listen to his explanation below: