Ever since Chris Brown revealed that his surprise Michael Jackson tribute was unexplainably canceled at the 2022 American Music Awards, many have spoken out in support of his artistry.
Besides Kelly Rowland — who voiced her appreciation for his many talents during the ceremony — Ciara has now revealed a dance rehearsal video of her and CB. The “Level Up” singer hinted that she was set to join Breezy on stage in homage to the King of Pop’s 40th anniversary of Thriller.
On Monday, a source also told Entertainment Tonight, “Ciara was confirmed to perform with Chris as part of the Michael Jackson tribute. No reason was given as to why it was pulled.”
Ciara and Chris can be seen in the video together practicing iconic dance moves from the legendary, 1982 choreography, created by Michael Peters. Ciara, dressed in MJ regalia, also showed off her best MJ pelvic-thrust move to “Billie Jean.” See below.
“MJ thank you for the inspiration you’ve given us all! Thriller 40th Anniversary. @ChrisBrownOfficial you’re a rare breed of this generation. Always fun to rock with you [dance emoji],” Ciara captioned her black and white video on Instagram.
The American Music Awards finally addressed their unexplained decision to blot out CB’s performance after giving him the Male Artist Soul/R&B AMA award.
On Monday, Dick Clark Productions clarified that the cancelation of the MJ tribute had all to do with the creative direction of the show, and was not in spite of Chris Brown.
“Live shows change all the time,’ the spokesperson for DCP stated to ET. “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.”
On Sunday (Nov. 19), the 33-year-old icon shared rehearsal footage of his MJ set on Instagram, with the caption “U SERIOUS,” after finding out he would not be hitting the AMA stage.
The clip showed the Grammy Award-winning singer and his dancers transitioning from his viral single “Under The Influence” into Jackson’s “Beat It,” “Wanna Be Starting Somethin,” and “Thriller.”
If Ciara was indeed set to join Breezy on stage at this year’s AMA’s, it wouldn’t be the first time the two showed off their inner Janet-Michael chemistry. In 2008, the duo performed at the BET Awards to Brown’s seductive single “Take You Down” from his 2007 album Exclusive.
Watch Chris Brown and Ciara’s rehearsals above and revisit the two performing in 2008 below.