“Knock You Down” singer Keri Hilson, 40, revealed that she and singer-songwriter Teairra Mari, 35, almost got into a scrap backstage at her show 12 to 13 years ago.
Hilson appeared on episode 72 of the R&B Money Podcast hosted by Tank and J Valentine on Oct. 14. During their “I Ain’t Saying No Names” segment, where they squeeze the juiciest and possibly damning story out of their celebrity guest, Keri recalled when she almost duked it out with another singer, later revealed to be Teairra only because the “Phone Booth” singer told the same story years ago publicly.
“When you’re a performer, you know we know how important it is to give love to other performers,” she recalled. “Especially when you happen to be sitting on the front row at their show. Mind you, not one else was performing.”
Keri continued, “I remembered just this ‘I don’t want to be here’ energy. ‘I don’t know why I’m here.’ She was with a gentleman…I know the guy very well. She was with him…She didn’t want to be there; it was very obvious, and I felt disrespected by that. So, when they came to my dressing room backstage, I said something, and we almost got to scraping.”
She said that Teairra (without naming her) sat in the front row while everyone stood, looking uninterested in Keri’s performance while on her phone.
“You could give a courtesy bob. It’s a lot of things you can do to show love but…”
Towards the end, Keri called her “insignificant.”
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In Teairra’s inteview, she claimed she was vibing to Keri’s performance but continued getting calls from her cousin, who was watching her dog, which took her attention from the show for a moment. Teairra said she continued bobbing to it.
Once backstage, Teairra recalled introducing herself to Keri and extending her hand, only for Keri not to shake but stare at it.
Teairra felt Keri’s behavior was “stanky.”
In response to the old beef trending, the 35-year-old took to the Neighborhood Talk’s comment section with some nasty words for Keri.
“Y’all people gotta leave me alone,” Teairra wrote. “I don’t bother anybody, just leave me the f**k alone. So now, Keri! What’s up? You wanna fight, or do you not want to fight? Because I’m gonna whoop your ass when I see you. I’m sick of you people bothering me! You had a whole different story when I was in your face. You’re a liar, b***h.”
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The “Pretty Girl Rock” singer responded, “Well, fellas, I guess the ‘I Ain’t Sayin’ No Names’ segment didn’t work too well this time. Unfortunately, this did happen around 12-13 years ago. I actually never knew until I saw the previous post that you also told this story publicly. Listen…we were very young in our careers, and I was remembering how I felt when it happened. But I don’t feel a way about this situation now.”
She continued, “Since then, we’ve run into each other, apologized, partied together & gotten past that. I’m responding to this because I don’t wanna allow anything to bring us back to a place we’ve long passed. And since it was a public story that got connected to you in public, it deserves a public apology. I’m sorry for telling the story, especially with the energy & hurtful words that I used. It was unnecessary. Because my feelings and energy at this point, in this present moment, are nothing but love…no ill will or vitriol towards you. It’s an old story that I see now that we’ve both told. I hope you’re doing well in this season & wishing you all the best in life.”
