Lauryn Hill Fans Defend Her After Essence Fest Performance

Ms. Lauryn Hill’s fans are coming to her defense. The Grammy-winning superstar performed this weekend at the 2025 ESSENCE Festival of Culture, but, according to People, she took the stage after 3:30 a.m. The Fugee reportedly closed out her set at the festival to a near-empty stadium.

While Ms. Hill’s history of tardy performances is well-documented and infamous, fans were quick to point out that her set being so late was not at all her fault.

According to Nola.com, by the time the “Lost Ones” singer took the stage, only a few hundred people were still in the building, which accommodates 83,000 people; and the evening was behind schedule from essentially the start, with some acts finishing almost an hour after the next performers were scheduled to begin. Hill was a good sport, in spite of the delays, taking the stage with her sons Zion, 27, and “YG” Marley, 23.

Several fans on social media pointed out that Ms. Hill was not at fault for the late start time.

Fellow neo-soul star India.Arie also defended Hill, and called out ESSENCE.

“It’s ok tho,” Arie wrote on IG in a comment under a video about the performance. “I understaaaannnd the gaaaame. (in my Erykah Badu voice)I hope they can pull it together and come BACK to reflect the culture again.

WE NEED THAT. And OUR LAURYN deserves SO much better. she deserves everything in fact. Essence was ALWAYS really, really a beautiful time.”

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