Kanye West’s Sold-Out Russia Concerts Canceled - Newsweek

Two sold-out concerts in Russia by the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, have been canceled, according to the event organizers.

The shows were scheduled to take place on October 10 and 11 at the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg.

"Ye's concerts in St. Petersburg will not be able to take place on the scheduled dates," the event organizer Say Agency said on Wednesday, according to The Kyiv Independent.

The agency did not give any further details about the cancellations. Newsweek contacted the agency for comment by email.

Russian media outlets said the decision had been made by Russia's authorities, with the newspaper Kommersant reporting that the concert organizers were being investigated for alleged fraud.

Information on refunds would be released later, the organizers said, adding: "We will come to you soon with an official statement on the status of the project and further plans."

The concerts at the St. Petersburg Gazprom Arena were announced on August 17 and tickets which cost between 9,000 rubles ($107) and 160,000 rubles ($1,900) sold quickly.

But state news agency Interfax reported that the Gazprom Arena said that the contract for the lease of the venue had not been signed and so the shows could not take place.

However, it is unclear whether an administrative issue was the key factor behind the cancellation, or the controversy of his previous statements.

Local media in St. Petersburg said government officials had not approved the concerts and some politicians expressed outrage at the rapper’s past comments supporting Nazism, which is a criminal offense in Russia.

In 2022, the rapper tweeted a series of antisemitic statements and released a song called "Heil Hitler" in 2025, which was banned on most platforms.

The rapper took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal this year apologizing for his past behavior and antisemitic remarks which said, "I am not a Nazi or an antisemite."

Dates on West's European tour were canceled this summer, and he was barred from entering the United Kingdom for the Wireless festival.

Russian foreign affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that the rapper's appearance in Russia would have been unacceptable and that he expressed an opinion against "our rejection of Nazism, Hitlerism and fascism."

The rapper would have been the biggest name to perform in Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Appearances of western artists have dried up since the start of the war, when major labels withdrew or suspended operations in the country.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Robinson and Cristina Diciu.