The internet is furious at Apple Music boss Eddy Cue after the exec was supposedly spotted heckling singer Rihanna last night during Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Oakland, California.
Video of Cue at the game appears to show the Apple VP telling Rihanna to sit down. Rihanna had been doing a bit of heckling herself during the game, yelling at Warriors superstar Kevin Durant. Twitter immediately went in on Cue for going at Rihanna, but most people thought he was just your average court-side rich white guy.
This isn’t the first time Cue caused controversy on the Golden State Warriors’ home floor. During the 2015 NBA Finals, Cue got photographed giving LeBron James the business. Last year he became the team’s biggest cheerleader when the Warriors came back from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference Finals.
Some Rihanna fans have called for Cue to apologize or be fired because of this week’s incident.
There’s no audio of what Cue said while pointing downward as he faced Rihanna. However, some tweeters claim he said, “Bitch, sit down.”
Cue replied to the original tweet that sparked the controversy last night, saying it’s all a misunderstanding and that he was talking to a friend a few seats over.
Nothing but love for Rihanna (and KD, too!) As usual I was excited about our lead and actually talking to Marissa, 8 seats to my right.
— Eddy Cue (@cue) June 2, 2017
Apple has a close relationship with many Warriors players. 2016 league MVP Steph Curry has appeared in Apple’s ads in the past.
A recent report also revealed that Kevin Durant has gotten close to Apple execs and watched the 2016 presidential election results with Tim Cook at Cue’s house. Durant even consulted with Steve Jobs’ wife, Laurene Powell Jobs, on Silicon Valley businesses he’s interested in.