Photo Credit: Associated Press
The Associated Press is left apologizing after dumping Babyface mid-interview to run after Chappell Roan on the Grammys red carpet.
Reporters Leslie Ambriz and Krysta Fauria greeted Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds during the AP’s live red carpet show by calling him a legend. They discussed the LA wildfires and how relief efforts have brought the music community together. When Ambriz asked Babyface to elaborate on the rising trend of genre-bending among artists, her co-host Fauria began screaming Chappell Roan’s name.
Babyface stops speaking mid-interview and hands the microphone back, encouraging the reports to go chat with Chappell Roan. “I’m so sorry, Babyface,” Ambriz said in the moment before focusing on Chappell Roan. To his credit, Babyface doesn’t seem to shaken up by the disrespectful move, despite the callouts on social media.
“The best part of the night was reconnecting with old friends, meeting new artists, and feeling all the love in the room,” Babyface’s representative Ernest Dukes’ emailed statement to USA Today reads. “That’s what I’ll remember. That’s what it’s really about. Music is bigger than any one moment. Much love to everyone who won and everyone out here making great music.”
Can’t believe @AP disrespected Babyface like that smh. 🤦🏾♂️ #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/iuSuCkc2Id
— september (@septemberxmusic) February 2, 2025
“They had two fans instead of two reporters,” reads one comment on social media. “How are you doing music interviews and do not know that R&B/pop/rap has been fused before BY THIS MAN? To add insult to injury to call for someone else’s name while he’s in the middle of talking? That’s wild.”
Even Dionne Warwick took offense with the red carpet snub, posting “Am I seeing this correctly?” Warwick shared a screenshot of the definition of decorum and tagged AP in her post. Khloé Kardashian also chimed in stating, “This is so disrespectful how Babyface was treated in this interview. “Babyface has had such a significant impact on the music industry in so many ways. It is maddening to see a legend not get the respect and attention they deserve.”
Acknowledging the social media backlash, the AP posted an apology on X/Twitter. “We are deeply sorry for cutting our interview with Babyface short on our YouTube livestream of the Grammys red carpet. We have apologized to him through his representative and to our viewers on the live stream.”
Fauria herself also apologized. “I wanted to say that I’m really sorry about interrupting Babyface earlier. Chappell Roan had come up and there was a lot of commotion as there is on these carpets. But I’m a big Babyface fan, as are we all. And so I just wanted to say that I really apologize.”