Ashanti & Keyshia Cole's "Verzuz" Postponed After Ashanti Tests Positive For Coronavirus

Ashanti has tested positive for COVID-19. resulting in the postponement of tonight's "Verzuz" battle with Keyshia Cole.

BYCole BlakeDec 12, 20202.1K Views

Just hours prior to Saturday's highly anticipated Verzuz battle between Ashanti and Keyshia Cole, Ashanti announced that she has tested positive for COVID-19. The event has since been postponed, despite Ashanti's initial interest in still performing.

Mike Coppola / Getty Images

"Hey all, I can't believe I'm saying this but I tested positive for COVID-19," Ashanti wrote on Instagram. "I'm OK and not in any pain. I'm actually down to do the Verzuz from my house ... We're trying to figure it out."

Shortly after, the series announced on Instagram that the event has been postponed: "Unfortunately, we have to postpone tonight’s @Ashanti vs @KeyshiaCole #VERZUZ. Ashanti tested positive for COVID-19 beforehand, and we cannot put anyone at risk in the process. First time this has struck us so close to showtime. We apologize to our incredible audience! Get well soon, Ashanti.

The battle will now be held on January 9th, 2021.

The last Verzuz matchup, which was between Gucci Mane and Jeezy, drew record numbers, according to Swizz Beats: "This viewership number from last night actually makes Verzuz bigger in ratings than the MTV VMA’s, NBC’s The Voice, the Billboard Awards, the CMA’s, the Latin Grammy’s, Dancing With The Stars or The Masked Singer respectively on any given night for those primetime shows this year," Beatz wrote on Instagram. "OUR culture has made us the top show in the world for music outside of The Grammy’s. Thank you infinitely!"

Ahead of the star-studded matchup, check out how fans have been hyping up the event with 2000s nostalgia here.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CItyLdnDHG-

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIt28ZADvHj

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Cole Blake

Cole Blake is currently an Editor at HotNewHipHop based out of Brooklyn, New York. He began working at the site as an intern back in 2018 while studying journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s graduated with a bachelor's degree and written extensively about a wide range of topics including pop culture, film & television, politics, video games, sports, and much more. He’s also covered music festivals such as Gov. Ball and Rolling Loud. You can find him publishing work for HNHH from Monday to Wednesday or on weekends. On the sports front, Cole’s a passionate NBA and NFL fan with his favorite teams being the Indianapolis Colts and Los Angeles Lakers. He also roots for the Yankees whenever he finds himself at Yankee Stadium or the Red Storm when in the company of other SJU alumni. His favorite hip-hop artists are billy woods, Earl Sweatshirt, Cam’ron, MIKE, and Mach-Hommy.