Kanye West has given new meaning to the lyrics, “You get the bag and fumble it.”
Kanye – now known as Ye – walked away from an $8.5 million ($8 million, plus $500,000 toward production) deal by backing out of his upcoming Coachella performance, which runs two weekends – April 15-17 and April 22-24. According to TMZ, Coachella Festival organizers were completely in the dark regarding the decision.
A source told Variety that Kanye had yet to rehearse nor adequately prepared for his Coachella performance. While Ye’s camp has yet to officially confirm his speculated lack of preparation, an additional source reported to Page Six that Ye had plans to address his mental health.
While the official cancellation of his performance comes as a surprise, Ye took to Instagram (since removed) to suggest that he would cancel his Coachella performance if-then co-headliner Billie Eilish did not apologize to Travis Scott after helping a fan during one of her shows shortly after the Astro World incident.
Despite all of the alleged reasons, Ye is seemingly not concerned about the financial implications of not performing during the popular music fest. He was also recently listed on Forbes 2022 billionaire list with a net worth of $2 billion.
The Show Must Go On
Since walking away from the multi-million dollar payout, Coachella organizers have responded with no hard feelings toward Ye and his decision. Since the conference shakeup, Coachella has announced that The Weekend will replace Ye for the headline spot.
While the replacement spot has been announced, the former Superbowl performer is threatening to pull out of the festival if he does not receive the same $8.5 million payout Ye was set to receive.
The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival takes place at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, CA on April 15-17 and 22-24 and will be live-streamed on youtube.com/coachella beginning April 15 and 22 at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.
