Kanye West's planned concert at Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg, Russia, will not take place, the stadium's press office said, contradicting the event's organiser, which maintains the show is still on.
Gazprom Arena announced on 17 August that the American rapper would perform at the stadium on 10 and 11 October. A week later, on 24 August, the venue posted on social media saying the show would not happen.
Why the venue says the concert is off
The stadium's press office said Gazprom Arena does not organise the show itself, that responsibility belongs to Say Agency, a Moscow-based promotion company. The press office said Gazprom Arena had not signed any rental agreement for the event.
Gazprom Arena has not signed any contracts for renting the stadium to hold the event. No such contract exists. Accordingly, the concert cannot take place at our venue.
That statement came from the Gazprom Arena press office. The concert announcement has since disappeared from the stadium's website, which is currently inaccessible.
Tickets bought between 14 and 23 August are non-refundable, though buyers can get their money back if the show is cancelled, replaced or postponed. The ticket offer also allows for the performer to be substituted if necessary.
What the organiser says
According to the Telegram channel Baza, Say Agency was supposed to sign a contract with Gazprom Arena by 27 August. Agency representatives said they learned of the cancellation from media reports and that the venue's statements about the missing contract had not been agreed with the agency.
The concert announcement is still visible on Gazprom Arena's page on the Russian social network VKontakte, and the ticket website remains active, with tickets still available for purchase.
Citing Say Agency, the St Petersburg outlet Fontanka reported that the event will go ahead regardless, and that organisers are trying to work out why the stadium's social media accounts published claims about problems with the show.
The Telegram channel Ostorozhno, Novosti quoted organisers saying the concert would take place and that they were doing everything to establish the chain of events, adding that the venue had not called or told them anything directly, and that they had found out from the news themselves.
Background
Kanye West, also known as Ye, is a Grammy-winning American rapper and producer. Gazprom Arena is a major football stadium in St Petersburg that also hosts large concerts.
