Posted by As COVID-19 cases continue to stack up around the globe, Verzuz co-founders Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have decided to make some adjustments. Early Friday morning (January 8), the Verzuz Instagram account shared a post alerting its 5.1 million followers they will no longer be hosting both contenders in the same room.
“This has been an emotional week,” the post read. “In addition, as COVID-19 numbers continue to increase, safety is a top priority for us. As much as we enjoy having everyone together in the same room, the protect the artists and everyone who works with us in putting shows together, we’ll be going back to separate locations for a bit. We’re excited for the next few events, and look forward to getting back to the show in the coming weeks.”
At the very bottom of the announcement, they broke the news the highly anticipated Ashanti and Keyshia Cole Verzuz event has been postponed yet again with “Ashanti and Keyshia Cole: Coming Soon.”
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The R&B face-off has already been postponed once after Ashanti tested positive for the coronavirus last month. The event was initially expected to take place on December 12, 2020 and then was rescheduled for Saturday (January 9) following her positive test result. But now, it’s unclear when their one-on-one will actually go down.
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As one commenter pointed out, “staying in separate locations was the whole point of the Verzuz” but as people became increasingly lax about the virus, so did the Verzuz organizers. Early battles between DJ Premier and RZA and Babyface and Teddy Riley were done in separate spaces but more recent battles such as Snoop Dogg versus DMX and E-40 versus Too $hort were held in the same room.