Source: Linda Yaccarino, Timbaland, Elon Musk, Swizz Beatz / Verzuz
VERZUZ, the friendly but competitive music battle series created by Swizz Beat and Timbaland, announced that the platform has teamed with X. While the musicians touted that it remains Black-owned, the fact that it has essentially teamed with Phony Stark aka Elon Musk—with the announcement made on Juneteenth, no less—meant many people took to social media to comment on the move.
On Wednesday, June 19, VERZUZ announced it had entered into an “exclusive partnership” with X, formerly known as Twitter, for distribution. Swizz and Timbo broke the news themselves while in Cannes, France. Reportedly, the pair had reacquired VERZUZ from their previous partner, Triller. With full control, and touting they’re Black-owned along with equity from artists who participated, their desire for independent distribution has apparently put them in league with Musk.
Source: Timbaland, Elon Musk, Swizz Beatz / Verzuz
“We are beyond thrilled to have found the best partner for Verzuz,” said Swizz in a statement. “Not only are we excited to have Verzuz on X, we’re excited to help X build the biggest entertainment company in the world. I would like to thank Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino, Brett Weitz, Mitchell Smith and the entire X team for believing in the Verzuz vision. We can’t wait to get to work.”
Added Timbaland, :We are thrilled to partner with X, the most innovative platform globally. Our goal has always been to bring Verzuz to the world which we can now do bigger than ever.”
Swizz and Timbaland say they retain full ownership and creative control of VERZUZ while X will retain the exclusive distribution rights. The plan is that X will only expand VERZUZ’s viewership—touting an audience of over “550 million active users,” allegedly. Viewers will be able to watch the next VERZUZ, an announcement is forthcoming, for the price of Free.99 while being able to chat about the battle all in one location, X.
VERZUZ was beloved as it came to fruition during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had the world indoors looking for ways to interact with each other despite the circumstances. So the platform teaming with X, which is owned by Musk, is getting the side eye. The South African billionaire is known for spouting anit-woke conspiracy theories and allowing racists to run rampant on his platform, which is blatantly the antithesis of what VERZUZ is about.
Don’t take our word for it, check out some of the assorted reactions to VERZUZ partnering with Phony Stark in the gallery.