Peter Rosenberg has flat-out denied the rumors circulating about his involvement in Sheff G and Sleepy Hallow being pulled from this year’s Hot 97 Summer Jam lineup.
The chatter started after Sleepy Hallow, who was supposed to perform alongside big names like Doja Cat, French Montana, and Sexyy Red, didn’t show up for the one-day festival at New York’s UBS Arena. Naturally, fingers were pointed at Rosenberg because he had previously criticized the Bronx rappers for endorsing Donald Trump.
In a video posted on X, Rosenberg cleared the air, saying, “While I was annoyed about the Sheff G-Sleepy Hallow-Trump thing, I did not get them taken off of Summer Jam. Number one, I don’t have the power to do that. Number two, even though it was annoying to me and I disagree, I would never try to take money out of people’s pockets. I have never done that in the history of my career.” He also added, “I have only tried to put money in people’s pockets and supported more artists in this city than many people are aware. Many of those artists are watching this right now and they know.”
According to Rosenberg, Sleepy Hallow removed himself from the event, citing health reasons, while Sheff G was dealing with a different situation that Rosenberg preferred to leave for others to explain. He even expressed his wish to interview the two rappers to clear up any misunderstandings. “It is all love with me and those guys,” he said, reiterating that his disagreements with them were political and shouldn’t affect their professional relationship.
Hot 97 colleague Ebro Darden backed up Rosenberg’s version of events. He shared an email from Sleepy Hallow’s team, which said that the rapper had pulled out of the event due to “unforeseen health circumstances” and was advised to rest. This was hours before Sleepy was scheduled to perform.
The tension initially flared up after Sleepy Hallow and Sheff G had shown up at a Donald Trump rally, endorsing the former president. Rosenberg was vocal about his disgust, stating, “I’m disgusted. Hit ’em both with the button as far as I’m concerned. I hit everybody at the station, ‘Let’s pull them off Summer Jam.’ I just want y’all to know, that is me, Karen Rosenberg, I don’t want ’em on Summer Jam.” He added that Sleepy’s endorsement seemed like a joke to him, making it all the more frustrating.
Sleepy Hallow responded on social media, calling Rosenberg a “d!ck eater [crying laughter emoji].” Meanwhile, Sheff G penned a lengthier response, lamenting how he thought artists were free to support any political candidate. He pointed out the silence from Rosenberg and his colleagues during his previous successes and questioned why they only spoke up when something negative happened. “Y’all the reason our generation is the way it is.. I’m not even gone say no disrespectful shit either [slight frown emoji] it’s all love [blue heart emoji] #everythinglit,” Sheff G concluded.
Although there were a lot of speculations about their removal, it’s clear from Rosenberg and Ebro Darden’s statements that Sleepy Hallow and Sheff G’s absence at Hot 97 Summer Jam had more to do with personal decisions and health issues than any backstage politicking.
