Preeminent performer Anita Baker is getting some serious blowback because she was allegedly “rude” to her fans and demanded others get ejected from the arena — right in the middle of a song.
Baker was performing at the Toyota Center in Houston when, as she was singing, she began bickering with fans in the front row. The Rapture songstress ordered some to stop filming her with their cellphones and she implored security to remove some of them from the building.
The moment in question was captured by a fan who showed the legendary songstress belting out one of her signature tunes with her angelic voice. Then, without breaking stride in a song, Baker sang this to some fans:
“Turn off the camera, baby! I don’t know who you are. Move back! Get them back. I don’t know who they are.”
@icemamiiii 365 aint even sound right 😒 #anitabakerchallenge #anitabakerconcert #houston #fyp #anitabaker
There is another video circulating online capturing Baker ordering security to remove fans who failed to capitulate to her demands.
Some fans conveyed their disappointment with Baker’s behavior as well as her truncated show on X and TikTok.
One fan said she was appalled that not only did Baker demand that fans stop recording her, but she also allegedly shortened her show and failed to sing some of beloved hits such as “Sweet Love.”
@icemamiiii 365 aint even sound right 😒 #anitabakerchallenge #anitabakerconcert #houston #fyp #anitabaker
Other concertgoers sympathized with Baker’s sentiments because some fans were running up to the front to record, thereby possibly interfering with the front-row fans’ experience. Their differing perspective was crystallized by this tweet:
I was there so imma speak. People kept rushing the stage and interrupting her and security was just letting it happen. I would’ve done the same thing bc they were messing up other people’s experience who paid money too. It was a sold out arena she can’t just let everyone run up
— André Marcel Harris, MSW (@andreharris89) December 17, 2023
