John Legend defends Rita Ora in lip-syncing mishap

John Legend

When a technical mishap exposed British pop star Rita Ora lip-synching in her performance at the recent Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, netizens were quick to gang up on her on social media to call her out.

Thankfully, fellow performer John Legend came up to her defense, saying that all the performers actually had to lip-sync at the event. “Fun fact. We all had to lip-sync at this parade, because the floats don’t have the capacity to handle the sound requirements for a live performance,” he tweeted.

Rita was supposed to perform her song “Let Me Love You” when she appeared to experience difficulties with her earpiece, which prevented her from hearing and following the playback.

Rita Ora

“Thank you for clarifying what I was about to also tweet,” Rita told John. “It’s annoying for us, but anyway, all my shows are 100 percent live—always have been!”

Organizers likewise released a statement, confirming that there had been issues with the sound system. “Several recording artists experienced technical difficulties that negatively impacted their performance. We apologize and want fans to know these issues were out of the artists’ control.”—ALLAN POLICARPIO