Ye will not be going to Russia after all.
The organizer behind his two planned St. Petersburg concerts confirmed Wednesday that the October 10 and 11 shows will not happen on the scheduled dates. Say Agency posted the news on Telegram, telling fans an official statement is coming soon. Reuters reported the cancellation Thursday.
This one fell apart in public. The shows were announced in mid-August and sold out fast, with reports of more than 100,000 tickets gone. A week later, the Gazprom Arena said it had never signed a rental agreement with the organizers and only learned about the concerts through the media. The promoter insisted the shows were still on, pointing to an official letter from the arena, but Say Agency pulled the plug this week. Refunds start October 12.
The booking also drew heat inside Russia. Pro-war military bloggers questioned bringing an American star to the country, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the shows unacceptable, pointing to Ye’s past praise of Hitler. Ye apologized for his antisemitic remarks in January, blaming an undiagnosed brain injury and untreated bipolar disorder. He has faced cancellations and bans across Europe this year. Had the Russia shows gone ahead, he would have been one of the biggest international stars to play there since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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Photo: Kanye West performing on stage (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0)