The stadium in St. Petersburg, Russia, that was scheduled to host two concerts headlined by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, said on Monday that the events would not take place.
In a social media post written in Russian, the stadium, Gazprom Arena, said that it was not the organizer of the concerts, scheduled for Oct. 10 and 11, and that it had not signed any rental agreements.
“There is no such agreement,” the statement said. “Accordingly, the concert cannot take place at our venue.”
Last week, Gazprom Arena posted effusively about the concerts on social media, calling Ye “the most influential musical artist of our time.” The sold-out concerts were to be the first in the country by a major Western performer since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago.
The stadium said in its statement on Monday that the concerts had been organized by the Moscow-based Say Agency. Representatives for Ye, Gazprom Arena and Say Agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Ye has spent the year trying to rehabilitate his image after years of antisemitic and racist conduct. He held his first major concert in the United States in more than five years in Los Angeles in April, but he has been prevented from performing in England, France, Italy and Poland. The rapper has held concerts in Albania, the Netherlands and Turkey and has events scheduled for New Orleans and Chicago in the coming weeks.
Ye has drawn scrutiny for posting the phrase “death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE” on social media and for conducting an interview while wearing what appeared to be a black Ku Klux Klan robe. This year, he took out an ad in the The Wall Street Journal that said he regretted his antisemitic behavior and that he hoped to be forgiven by “those I’ve hurt.”
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