Is There Really Cause for Concern?
Ray J is at the center of a new controversy after his Valentine’s Day performance in Shreveport, Louisiana went viral and now some people behind the scenes are saying the dramatic “bloody eyes” moment was staged.
Last weekend the 45-year-old singer took the stage wearing dark sunglasses, handing out roses and performing when video clips began circulating online showing what appeared to be blood streaming from beneath his eyes and a medical patch or monitor taped to his chest, prompting major concern from fans who thought he might be in real trouble.
Ray J has been very open about recent health struggles including a January hospitalization for pneumonia and heart issues, and posts where he claimed his heart was only functioning at about 25% and that he’d been told he might not live much longer.
His manager, Melinda Santiago, defended the performance, saying that “all my artists that work with me gotta do their job whether they are bleeding or not,” and Ray J himself shared a smiling photo with her with a blood-drop emoji, implying he was committed to showing up for fans.
But in the hours since the clips spread, at least one backstage crew member who was at the show has claimed the “blood” was fake and was applied to Ray J before he ever went on stage. According to that person, what looked like bleeding was part of a theatrical moment not actual injury and the singer was seen putting the fake blood on himself just before the performance began.
Fans online are now divided. Some say the move was a creative expression, others call it a publicity stunt, and many are questioning how much of Ray J’s recent health narrative is real versus performance art. There’s been no official response from Ray J’s camp addressing the backstage claim directly.
