Paula Abdul Responds After Seemingly Mistaking Nicole Scherzinger For Shakira
Paula Abdul cleared things up after she caused quite a stir on social media over the weekend after seemingly mistaking Nicole Scherzinger for Shakira in a tweet posted online prior to the superstar’s Super Bowl halftime show with Jennifer Lopez. The drama first started when the ex-American Idol judge posted several photos to her page on February 2 to share her excitement for the 2020 game, which saw the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Though the tweet has since been deleted, as reported by Entertainment Tonight Canada, Paula posted photos of herself alongside Demi Lovato (who performed the national anthem before the game), JLo, and then seemingly pretty inexplicably, Nicole.
The latter snap showed her holding on to a football while posing alongside the Pussycat Dolls singer, Simon Cowell, and L.A. Reid at what appeared to be a Pepsi Super Bowl event a few years ago.
In the tweet, she wrote, “Can’t wait to watch these amazing women perform at the #SuperBowl.”
She even tagged Demi, Jennifer, and Shakira in the post, but not Nicole.
The social media site then blew up with comments and memes pointing out Paula’s apparent mistake, with Nicole even replying to the message on her own account.
Hitting back, Nicole tweeted, “I mean, my hips don’t lie… but I’m not @shakira babes” with a kissing lips emoji and a red heart.
The singer — who recently stunned fans in a sultry sneak peek at the Pussycat Dolls new music video for “React” — then replied to a fan with two crying-laughing emoji after they pointed out the mistake and jokingly posted a picture of her with the caption, “Ladies and gentlemen, that’s Shakira.”
While it definitely seemed as though Paula confused The Masked Singer judge for Shakira in her initial message, she cleared up all the speculation in a tweet on February 3.
The “Forever Your Girl” singer denied making a mix-up and instead claimed that she posted the picture because it was a “football memory.”
“I wanted to include this photo to commemorate this great football memory! Not to mistake you for Shakira,” she told the “Poison” singer via the social media site.
“Nicole, even as a masked singer I couldn’t mistake you. As if we don’t go way back!” Paula added with a red heart emoji and four photos of the twosome together.
Nicole then replied by tweeting, “love you, paula.”
Notably, the two do have had a pretty long friendship that goes back several years. They both appeared as judges on the first season of Simon Cowell’s now canceled talent search The X Factor USA back in 2011.
