Timbaland Reportedly Refused To Play A Flint Benefit For The Most Bizarre Reason

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The Flint water catastrophe shows no sign of slowing, which boggles the mind. The good thing is that — although there’s no pipe-replacement plan in place — U.S. citizens are aware of the issue. Still, an entire population must cope with the consequences of lead poisoning. A generation of children have had their lives forever altered, all because the city switched water sources without proper precautions. Gov. Rick Snyder’s not working too hard on a long-term solution, and (as Michael Moore pointed out) an endless supply of bottled water is not a solution. Flint’s recovery will take years.

Several hip hop stars, including The Game and Big Sean, have donated large sums to help Flint’s citizens. Timbaland popped into Detroit to perform at a charity show for the cause, but something went wrong. If this report from New York Daily News is true, Timbaland refused to perform. He (allegedly) did so because the club didn’t carry his favorite champagne:

The event raked in at least $3,000 to buy bottles of water and filters for the troubled city despite the multi-Grammy winner’s apparent lack of professionalism late Thursday night, said Club Bleu co-owner Mitchell Jaworski. The two bottles of “Ace of Spades” champagne – worth more than $300 each – were replaced with Dom Perignon because the club did not carry Jay-Z’s expensive line of Armand de Brignac bubbly.

The contract paid Timbaland in advance to DJ a half hour set and perform five to eight songs before a crowd of about 300 concert-goers. After the booze fracas, Timbaland reluctantly took to the stage after 1 a.m. and “just stood there” in defiance.

So, Timbaland was performing to raise money for clean water but got hung up on expensive liquor. This makes no sense, yet folks can get fussy about their champagne. After fans called Timbaland out, he responded in an Instagram comment, which also made no sense:

“I want everybody to think I wasn’t suppose to perform think about it. Why would I do that see what I need to do for now on call these promoter out that not rite for the fans and me now I’ve gave money and came and they ask me at las min sorry to the people who lied … I’m the realest and I don’t let people down I’m here to uplift not disappoint so I’m sorry for the confusion.”

This is neither a denial nor an admission. Meanwhile, the shady behavior of authorities is coming back to bite Gov. Snyder, who says citizens “heckle” him when he eats at restaurants. Snyder says, “Yeah, I was heckled and other things like that have been going on for some time now. That’s really unfortunate.” Snyder wishes people would devote their attention to solving the problem instead. One citizen admitted yelling, “How was your water? Was it clean?” at Snyder while he dined. Yes, his water was clean.

(Via CBS Detroit & New York Daily News)

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