Kanye West’s Russia concert plans scrapped, organizer says

Two concerts by US rapper Kanye West in Russia that had been scheduled for October have been cancelled, the show's organiser, Say Agency, said.

West, who is also known as Ye, had been due to perform in St Petersburg. However, a week after the concerts were announced in mid-August, the venue due to host them said it had never signed a contract with the organisers, a separate Moscow-based company.

The shows had remained in limbo ever since, with organisers providing no clear confirmation of whether they would go ahead.

"Friends, it is with sincere regret that we inform you that the YE concerts in St. Petersburg will not be able to take place on the scheduled dates. We will issue an official statement regarding the status of the project and our future plans in the near future," Say Agency posted on Telegram on Wednesday.

West has faced concert cancellations and performance bans in several European countries this year following a series of past antisemitic remarks, including praise for Adolf Hitler, and the use of Nazi imagery.

In January West apologised for the remarks, which he attributed to an undiagnosed brain injury and untreated bipolar disorder.

Had the concerts gone ahead, West would have become one of the biggest international music stars to visit Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022.

The planned gigs had drawn criticism from some Russian pro-war military bloggers, who questioned the appropriateness of hosting a US performer while Washington continues to provide military and financial support to Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticised the planned shows, calling them unacceptable and citing what she described as the West's "glorification" of Hitler.

-Reporting by Maxim RodionovEditing by Alexandra Hudson/Reuters