August Alsina Fires Back After 2016 American Music Awards Lip Sync Controversy

During Sunday night’s 2016 American Music Awards, singer August Alsina hit the stage with DJ Khaled, Nicki Minaj and Future for a performance of “Do You Mind.” While the set went off without a hitch, some ABC viewers thought Alsina may have been lip-syncing.

With no singer wanting to be accused of lip-syncing, Alsina took to Instagram after the show and addressed the controversy. According to the singer, after rehearsing all week for the performance, the AMAs decided not to turn his microphone on for the live TV feed. “I definitely understand the lip-sync talk. I feel played just like you do,” he wrote.

While upset with his performance, Alsina still found time to thank the AMAs for the chance to perform, writing, “Thank you for the opportunity AMAs and overall a good time with my brother @djkhaled.”

Alsina also found a chance to laugh at the incident, posting a photo of himself next to Future and DJ Khaled while not holding the mic to his mouth. “When yo mic ain’t on so you just do the #mannequin challenge in front of 11 million viewers at the #lipsyncparty aka the AMAs,” he wrote.

Last year, the singer released his second studio album, “This Thing Called Life,” which was backed by the singles “Dreamer” and “Why I Do It.” In the same year, Alsina also revealed he was battling a degenerative eye disease which had caused the loss of sight in his left eye and worsening vision in his right.

In May 2015, Alsina underwent surgery to fully regain his sight. “In order to prevent my eyesight from deteriorating I had to do this surgery,” he wrote on Instagram, calling the surgery “beyond painful.”