  Liu et al. (2019) recently reported the detection of a 68 [+11/-13] solar
mass (Msun) black hole (BH) paired with an 8.2 [+0.9/-1.2] Msun B-type
sub-giant star in the 78.9-day spectroscopic binary system LB-1. Such a black
hole is over twice as massive as any other known stellar-mass black hole with
non-compact companions2 and its mass approaches those that result from BH-BH
coalescences that are detected by gravitational wave interferometers. Its
presence in a solar-like metallicity environment challenges conventional
theories of massive binary evolution, stellar winds and core-collapse
supernovae, so that more exotic scenarios seem to be needed to explain the
existence and properties of LB-1. Here, we show that the observational
diagnostics used to derive the BH mass results from the orbital motion of the
B-type star, not that of the BH. As a consequence, no evidence for a massive BH
remains in the data, therefore solving the existing tension with formation
models of such a massive BH at solar metallicity and with theories of massive
star evolution in general.
