Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber have furiously responded to claims they bought their Billboard No. 1.
The pop stars spoke out after Tekashi 6ix9ine publicly accused them of purchasing mass units of their own single ‘Stuck With U’ in order to climb the charts.
Ariana and Justin released the song earlier this month to raise money for the First Responders Children’s Foundation, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Tekashi, whose song ‘GOOBA’ landed at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, shared a video on Instagram claiming that his team launched an “investigation” – and discovered that “six credit cards” were used to purchase 30,000 units of the song.
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@billboard YOU’RE A LIE AND CORRUPT. YOU GOT CAUGHT CHEATING AND THE WORLD WILL KNOW.
Responding to the rapper’s claims, Ariana posted a lengthy statement on Instagram.
Ariana wrote: “My fans bought the song. JUSTIN’S fans bought the song. OUR fans bought this song (never more than four copies each, AS THE RULES STATE).”
“They are ride or die motherf***ers and i thank god every day that i have them in my life. not just when they fight for us to win (even when i ask them not to as i did this week) but because they’re some of the greatest people i know.”
She continued: “Sales count for more than streams. u can not discredit this as hard as u try. to anybody that is displeased with their placement on the chart this week or who is spending their time racking their brain thinking of as many ways as they can to discredit hardworking women (and only the women for some reason…..), i ask u to take a moment to humble yourself.”
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“Be grateful you’re even here. that people want to listen to u at all. it’s a blessed position to be in. i’ve had a lot of ‘almost number ones’ in my career and i never said a goddamn thing because I FEEL GRATEFUL TO EVEN BE HERE. TO WANT TO BE HEARD AT ALL …. and you should feel that way too.”
“congratulations to all my talented ass peers in the top ten this week. even number 3. ???? and thank u to @billboard for this honor. and thank u to everybody who helped us raise a lot of money for a very important cause this week. love u all a lot,” she added.
Justin also responded to Tekashi’s claims on his Instagram Story.
He wrote: “The rules are clear. One credit card can buy max 4 copies. Anything over that the entire amount gets thrown out. Nielsen checks this and found all our sales were legit because our fans are amazing and bought them.”
“This is my song with Ariana Grande and I’m honored to work with her to help raise money for a great cause. If [you’re] gonna say her name make sure you say mine because it’s our song.”
After both singers responded to his claims, Tekashi shared another video – in which he addressed Ariana’s statement.
He said: “I don’t want you to think that I’m coming at you. I’m not saying that you’re not talented and I’m not saying you can’t sing. You’re a beautiful singer. You just don’t understand my pain.”
“My frustration is for Billboard. I speak for the millions of kids that come from nothing. I want you to understand that I come from a different, different background than you.”
In early April, Tekashi was released from prison several months earlier than scheduled and placed under house arrest due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ariana and Justin dedicated all net proceeds from the streams and sales of “Stuck with U” to the First Responders Children’s Foundation. Funds will go toward grants and scholarships for children of healthcare workers and other front line responders fighting against the coronavirus pandemic.
On this week’s episode of the Gosscast, we chat through Matt Damon’s ‘fairytale’ lockdown in Dublin, Tristan Thompson and Khloe Kardashian’s paternity test drama, and why OnlyFans is getting so popular:
The Gosscast is available on iTunes and Spotify and all usual podcast channels.
