When Season 8 frontrunner Anthony Riley abruptly dropped out of The Voice this past Monday, forcing the show to hold its first-ever three-way Knockout Round, rumors regarding his mysterious vanishing act swirled around the Internet. Most of the gossip claimed that Riley quit because he refused to sing in the Knockouts against fellow powerhouse Mia Z. A few fans on Twitter speculated that he was kicked off the show for controversially dedicating his Battle Rounds victory to imprisoned activist Mumia Abu-Jamal. An NBC source debunked both of these rumors, telling Yahoo Music’s Reality Rocks that Riley had to leave for “personal reasons,” but refused to elaborate at that time.



But now the 28-year-old Philadelphia street performer has spoken to Philly.com to clear up the speculation, and he has revealed that he left the competition to enter a two-week rehab program for substance abuse. It’s now commendable and understandable that The Voice chose to respect Riley’s privacy, until he was willing to speak about the situation himself.

Riley told Philly.com that he went to Voice producers in January, after winning in the Battle Rounds, and they discussed his ongoing addiction problems. That night, producers flew him back to his home city of Philadelphia, and he entered Clarity Way, a rehab facility in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

According to Riley, NBC footed the bill. Representatives for The Voice declined to comment to Yahoo for this story. Reality Rocks reached out to Riley via email; he replied with a simple link to Philly.com’s article.

"At the time, [The Voice] wasn’t working for me and I felt like I needed to go, instead of taking on more responsibility than I could handle,” Riley told Philly.com. While he stressed that “The Voice has been a really great source of support” and “they make sure we understood we were getting ourselves into,” he said that the heavy workload and 16-hour days on the show were just too much for him to handle at the time. “It’s stressful; there are a lot of days that can turn into lonely days.”

Riley also told the paper that that controversial Mumia tweet was actually posted by his former assistant, Christopher Mapp; Mapp corroborated this story and said he was the one who shot the YouTube video, of a 2013 Mumia Abu-Jamal rally, that accompanied the tweet. “I don’t think entertainment and politics should intersect,” stressed Riley. “I literally want my fans to get to know me through my music before we delve into political associations and affiliations.”

While many fans disappointed by Riley’s unexpected exit would love to see him return to The Voice when he feels ready, Riley sadly told Philly.com that least for now, “The Voice is over for me.” But there is hope, as the singer added optimistically: “One of the reasons I’m proud of being of a Philadelphian is that we all have our own struggle… no matter what you do, no matter how far down you go, you can always make a comeback. I just hope someone hears this message. It’s not worth pursuing anything other than your dreams.”

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