Kanye West’s upcoming gigs in Russia will no longer take place, according to the owners of the stadium.
Last week, it was announced that the Stronger rapper would perform on 10 and 11 October at St Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena.
It marked the first time a major Western artist had played in the country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and tickets sold out almost instantly.
However, representatives for Gazprom Arena have now claimed the gigs are cancelled because the concert promoters, Say Agency, have not signed a rental agreement.
They added on social media, “Accordingly, the concert cannot take place at our venue.”
The owners also acknowledged that they had received complaints about West’s performances and stressed Gazprom Arena “was not and is not” the organiser of the event.
A spokesperson for Say Agency said on its Telegram channel that they were surprised by Gazprom Arena’s post and sparked confusion by insisting, “As of now, the Ye concert has not been cancelled.”
“We are trying to contact the venue to find out the reason for the post and resolve the issue. We will keep you updated,” they added, reports BBC News.
They acknowledged that they hadn’t signed the rental agreement yet, however, they claimed the deadline wasn’t until later this week.
The 49-year-old has been trying to mount a live comeback this year, after falling out of grace over repeated antisemitic remarks and behaviours beginning in 2022. In January, he took out a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal to apologise for his conduct.
West returned to the stage in Los Angeles in April, but planned shows in France, Italy and Poland were cancelled, as well as his three-night headlining run at London’s Wireless Festival this summer.
According to his website, the Gold Digger rapper will perform in New Orleans, Louisiana on Friday and two shows in his hometown of Chicago in September. Internationally, he has one show booked in Jakarta, Indonesia on 24 October.
