It's been well established that Apple exec Eddy Cue is a huge basketball fan, and with his court-side seats he even landed on the front page of the Chronicle during last year's playoffs, cheering on Steph Curry after the Warriors came back to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder. (And here he is during the 2015 Finals at Oracle Arena in Oakland, in his Warriors gear.) But during Thursday night's Game 1 of the NBA Finals, the senior vice president of internet software and services had to contend with one over-eager Cleveland Cavaliers fan seated a little too close to him: Rihanna.
As you can see from court-side video footage from last night, a man who definitely appears to be Cue can be seen saying something impolite and pointing in the direction of Rihanna, who spent some time out of her seat cheering on LeBron James and the Cavaliers. It's unclear what he said, exactly, but some folks on Twitter have their guesses, and it probably wasn't gentlemanly.
Anyone else see Eddy Cue @cue say "tell that bitch to sit down" after @rihanna was cheering court side? #NBAFinals pic.twitter.com/iwRjjYEqno
β BaerFace (@BaerFace) June 2, 2017
The man in this tweet that's going viral is Eddy Cue, Apple's Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services. https://t.co/du9x4tkQMX
β Steve Kopack (@SteveKopack) June 2, 2017
oh mama mama mama
β Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) June 2, 2017
i just shot a man down
at the oracle center
in front of a big ol' crowd
turns out man down is about eddy cue on twitter
As discussed earlier, Cue was not the only Warriors fan who wanted Rihanna to sit down and stop heckling Kevin Durant.
Amazing.
β Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) June 2, 2017
Rihanna bows to LeBron then hits a dab and small waves a Warriors fan telling her to sit down.
π pic.twitter.com/q0IyIPIbGK
But this is, after all, Rihanna, and she can do what she wants.
This man yelling at Rihanna to sit down during the game last night enrages me in a way that I can't even articulate π€ pic.twitter.com/jIxtbxiY7d
β Andrea M (@andreamas05) June 2, 2017
Rihanna is so fine ππ pic.twitter.com/RzNGMDARVj
β FREDDY (@FreddyAmazin) June 2, 2017
And because of Cue's position and notoriety, some are calling for an apology:
At the very least, Apple & Cue owe Rihanna an apology. Haven't seen one yet.
β Holly Brockwell (@holly) June 2, 2017
Who you agree with may depend on whether you're a Warriors fan, a Cavs fan, or a Rihanna fan.
Update: Eddy Cue has responded, and he seems to be denying that he was yelling at Rihanna. And says he was actually talking to Marissa Mayer?
Nothing but love for Rihanna (and KD, too!) As usual I was excited about our lead and actually talking to Marissa, 8 seats to my right.
β Eddy Cue (@cue) June 2, 2017
People aren't buying it...
The video proves otherwise. LIAR! pic.twitter.com/MYaRRVenG1
β ThotsLoveRingPops (@Fentyindisbitch) June 2, 2017
This is not a proper apology. Bye @AppleMusic @AppleSupport pic.twitter.com/cTieNQLPun
β Anti Kiing (@ZaynDiamonds) June 2, 2017
There's literally video evidence that proves otherwise pic.twitter.com/B0ZSwZFYsI
β raul (@RaoulBimenyiman) June 2, 2017
Related: Rihanna Rules During Warriors Game 1 Win Over Cavaliers In NBA Finals