Topline
Kanye West pulled out of Coachella, multiple outlets reported Monday, leaving the popular music festival without a headliner less than two weeks before the show, and weeks after his erratic Instagram posts abruptly stopped.
American rapper Kanye West poses before Christian Dior 2015-2016 fall/winter ready-to-wear … [+]
Key Facts
The two weekend-long festival, which runs in Indio, California, from April 15-17 and 22-24, was supposed to be headlined by West, Harry Styles and Billie Eilish.
Billboard and the Los Angeles Times confirmed West would no longer be appearing, and a source told Variety West hadn’t rehearsed or prepared for the performance.
The Yeezy designer has acted erratically online in the last few months, targeting his ex-wife Kim Kardashian, her boyfriend Pete Davidson, and others.
However, the posts stopped roughly two weeks ago, after Instagram suspended West for 24 hours violating the platform’s harassment policy after attacking comedian Trevor Noah.
West did not attend Sunday’s Grammy Awards, despite being nominated in several categories, including album of the year.
He was supposed to perform at the show, but his set was canceled after his “concerning online behavior,” Variety reported.
Forbes has reached out to West and Coachella for comment.
Big Number
250,000. That’s how many people are estimated to attend Coachella over both weekends. The festival’s 125,000 per-day tickets have sold out, according to Variety.
Key Background
This is not the first time West, whose legal name is Ye, has pulled out of a show. In 2016, the rapper canceled his Saint Pablo tour with some cities left in the lineup. In February, West said he would be bringing rapper Travis Scott with him up on stage during his Coachella performance. The claim garnered headlines, as Scott had been announced as a Coachella 2020 headliner, and was removed from the lineup when the festival returned this year, seemingly in response to the Astroworld tragedy—when 10 concertgoers were killed in the crowd during a Scott performance. West called out fellow headliner Billie Eilish on Instagram for stopping one of her concerts to make sure a fan was safe, saying it was a dig at Scott, and threatened he wouldn’t perform if Eilish did not apologize. Eilish said at the time that she “literally never said a thing about Travis” and “was just helping a fan.”
Further Reading
Kanye West Reportedly Pulled From Performing At Grammys Over ‘Concerning Online Behavior’ (Forbes)
Kanye West Pulls Out of Coachella (Variety)
Kanye West bails on Coachella, leaving festival under pressure to find a headliner (Los Angeles Times)
Kanye West Pulls Out of 2022 Coachella Headlining Set (Billboard)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/04/04/kanye-west-reportedly-pulls-out-of-coachella-less-than-two-weeks-before-festival/