Chris Brown wasn’t the only performer who missed out when the AMAs canceled his Michael Jackson tribute. Ciara showed footage of the two of them practicing together for the canceled performance on her Instagram.
In the video’s caption, Ciara said, “MJ thank you for the inspiration you’ve given us all! Thriller 40th Anniversary. @ChrisBrown you’re a rare breed of this generation. Always fun to rock with you.”
In the black and white video, Ciara and Chris Brown are seen dancing to Thriller in front of a mirror. Then it changes to Ciara dancing by herself to Billie Jean while wearing a fedora.
The tribute was abruptly canceled just days before the show aired. Chris Brown was upset about the canceled performance and posted a video on his Instagram showing the rehearsal.
Chris captioned the post, “U SERIOUS?” He said in the comments that the performance was canceled “for reasons unknown.”
This is the 40th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s hit album Thriller. A Special 40th Anniversary Edition of the album has been released, which includes some never-released tracks.
Kelly Rowland also supports Chris Brown
Kelly Rowland came to Chris’ defense at the AMAs while presenting him the Favorite Male R&B Artist Award. The crowd began to boo following Chris’ win when Kelly told them to “chill out.”
Once the crowd quieted down, Kelly praised Chris, saying, “But I wanna tell Chris Brown thank you so much for making great R&B music. And I wanna tell him thank you for being an incredible performer.”
She ended the speech by telling Chris she loved him and would bring his award to him personally. Kelly then congratulated the other artists nominated in the same category.
Dick Clark Productions speak on the cancellation
A spokesperson for DCP has addressed the cancellation of Chris’s performance. In a statement, the spokesperson said the tribute was pulled because of creative direction and no fault of Chris.
The statement read, “Live shows change all the time, it’s the nature of this business; unfortunately, this element of the AMAs didn’t come together as we couldn’t align on the performance, to no fault of Chris Brown.”
Chris Brown stated previously that no reason was given to him as to why his performance was canceled. Chris chose to skip the American Music Awards show.