Why does this happen?

the segment is clearly in the priority but it’s muted and instead defaults to the first lane’s phrase even if it’s muted.

how do i prevent this from happening?

Hi,

The Audio Event with the red arrow is not muted.

You probably just need to use the Comp tool to properly select the takes. It is hard to tell based on the information given.

yes, it is.

it will not read/playback the clip that i pointed to.

that’s why I’m confused.

Obviously if it’s muted, it will not playback.

I told you. It’s not muted.

The incompetence of Cubase engineers is astonishing. Completely unable to answer questions on this forum.

It’s a user forum, not official support.

that further proves my point

How %-)

  1. They don’t have an official users help/Q&A/forum like PreSonus. Which means they are not willing to help users directly.
  2. A user-based forum is made, but they’re unable/incompetent to jump in here to help people.

All the more evidence that says how incompetent they are.

I don’t really understand you. In one reply you tell is the audio event with the red arrow is muted and in the next reply you tell us the audio event is not muted. Can you make up your mind and tell us what it is instead og bashing Steinberg for not answering you in the user forum.
Else open a support ticket at their official supper channel.