A musical shake-up. After replacing Travis Scott at Coachella 2022, Kanye WestThe music festival was scheduled to begin weeks before he resigned.
West, 44 years old, was supposed to headline the closing evening of the three-day event, but she pulled out earlier in April. The Yeezy designer’s spot was then given to The Weeknd.
The Illinois native’s decision comes after he was originally brought in to replace Scott, 30, amid the Astroworld concert tragedy. In November 2021, ten fans died during the Texas native’s sold-out musical festival in Houston. The “mass casualty incident” occurred after a crowd surge and caused many injuries as well.
West later made headlines for calling out fellow performer Billie EilishFor her comments at a show, which he took as a dig towards Scott.
Eilish (20 years old) was applauded online after she stopped a Georgia set to help a fan in the pit. After they had trouble breathing, the Grammy winner requested security to give an inhaler to the audience member.
“It’s OK, it’s OK. We got one,” Eilish said in viral footage from the concert. “Give her some time, don’t crowd [her]. Relax, relax, it’s OK. We’re taking care of our people, hold on. I wait for people to be OK until I keep going.”
The “Famous” rapper, for his part, questioned whether that was a shady remark about Scott, writing via Instagram, “COME ON BILLIE WE LOVE YOU PLEASE APOLOGIZE TO TRAV AND TO THE FAMILIES OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES. NO ONE INTENDED THIS TO HAPPEN TRAV DIDN’T HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING WHEN HE WAS ON STAGE AND WAS VERY HURT BY WHAT HAPPENED AND YES TRAV WILL BE WITH ME AT COACHELLA BUT NOW I NEED BILLIE TO APOLOGIZE BEFORE I PERFORM.”
The “Happier Than Ever” singer replied in the comments section, writing, “Literally never said a thing about Travis. Was just helping a fan.”
In the same month, West continued raising eyebrows with his social-media activity towards ex-wife. Kim KardashianShe and her boyfriend Pete Davidson. In response to West’s controversial comments, fans requested for the record producer to not appear at Coachella.
“We have watched Kanye harass, manipulate, and hurt Kim, Pete, and others for over a year now,” a Change.org petition, which nearly 50,000 people signed at the time, stated. “This is ridiculous that he is allowed to freely do this. Coachella (along with other brand names that are still working with him) should be ashamed of themselves and should not be giving him any more of a platform.”
West was banned from performing at Coachella after he used a racial slur to insult host. Trevor Noah.The fashion designer missed the Las Vegas awards show and went on to win Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance.
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