Girls’ Generation’s Taeyeon Once Got Into A Fight With Wiz Khalifa, No Joke
Girls’ Generation‘s Taeyeon and Wiz Khalifa once stole the show at the Mnet Asian Music Awards… with a performance that never happened.
Back in 2016, the biggest story to come out of MAMA was the conflict between these two stars, who were supposed to perform Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s smash hit, “See You Again”.
Wiz Khalifa first announced that he would be performing a duet at the awards show during a press conference held by the show’s organizers, CJ E&M. At the time, he didn’t specify which K-Pop star he would be collaborating with.
It wasn’t until after Wiz Khalifa showed up on stage alone that fans discovered the mystery idol’s identity, via this leaked rehearsal footage.
#Taeyeon ×#WizKhalifa 161202 MAMA See you again rehearsal by Baidu Kimtaeyeon Bar. 태연 #MAMARedCarpet Taeyeon #MAMARedCarpet pic.twitter.com/qLLS01aafD
— 탱빠🎙 (@zyfiszyf) December 2, 2016
Shortly after the leak, Wiz Khalifa stated that Taeyeon had “backed out” of the performance.
The fact that Teyeon backed out of our performance caught me off guard too but never accept rejection as failure.
— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) December 2, 2016
However you spell it. https://t.co/XYnX8WGZN2
— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) December 2, 2016
Wiz Khalifa’s official DJ and Music Director, DJ Bonics, had something to say about Taeyeon’s absence.
We were made aware that Taeyeon would not be collaborating with Wiz for his stage only minutes before he went on stage.
— DJ Bonics
DJ Bonics also leaked more rehearsal clips, including this one. Its caption reads
A Korean Pop star Taeyeon was suppose to perform this with Wiz and backed out last minute. Here’s a snippet.
— DJ Bonics
Initially, Wiz Khalifa said that he didn’t know the reason why Taeyeon backed out, but then claimed she had gone to a hospital the night before the show.
She claimed she had to go to the hospital the night before. Did the practice. Asked to be on a different stage than me then canceled https://t.co/4iJsZaf0oU
— Wiz Khalifa (@wizkhalifa) December 3, 2016
That’s when the drama really started. Soon after Wiz Khalifa posted this tweet, Taeyeon denied the claims by uploading a video to her Instagram Story.
I didn’t go to the hospital buddy.. it says here I’m washing up after waiting for you.
— Taeyeon
In response, DJ Bonics stated that he and Wiz Khalifa had been told that she was leaving rehearsal to go to the hospital, but there may have been a misunderstanding. He believed that either SM Entertainment or MAMA representatives could have meant “hotel” but said “hospital”.
Miscommunication turned out to be at the heart of this beef. Taeyeon’s agency (SM Entertainment) apparently would not allow her to perform the duet after a problem occurred with the music the night before the show.
MAMA representatives told DJ Bonics that the rehearsal track was the wrong file, but by the time Wiz Khalifa’s team attempted to rehearse with the right one it was too late. SM Entertainment would no longer approve the performance.
In the US, a star as big as Taeyeon usually has complete control over her activities. American artists like Wiz Khalifa are still signed to labels and may have certain restrictions, but when it comes to performing or not, it’s unusual for the artist not to make the final decision.
We didn’t know that Taeyeon couldn’t perform without her agency’s approval and that they had the final decision in all matters.
— Wiz Khalifa’s Team
Because of misunderstanding, Wiz Khalifa and DJ Bonics assumed Taeyeon was the one who decided to back out of the performance, not her agency.
While it’s unfortunate that this collab never happened, fans were relieved that the beef was resolved after the cause was found to be an unfortunate miscommunication. Fans can imagine what an incredible show it would have been, by watching this mashup starring Taeyeon and Wiz Khalifa.
