Kanye West’s remaining North American tour dates have been cancelled, following a Sacramento show brought to a halt by the rapper delivering a stream-of-consciousness speech that went viral.
“Tickets will be fully refunded at a point of purchase,” Live Nation said in a statement. The entertainment company said it had no further comment explaining the Saint Pablo Tour’s cancellation.
During a show last week in San Jose, West stopped his show to say he supported Donald Trump, even though he didn’t vote, drawing a backlash on social media (his wife, Kim Kardashian, very publicly backed Hillary Clinton). The attention heightened Saturday night when he began his Sacramento show 90 minutes late and then erupted after performing just a handful of songs. When it was clear that the show was about to end, the audience began booing.
In a profanity-laced rant filmed by attendees, he went after corporate radio, Jay Z (who he urged to call him), Beyoncé, Hillary Clinton, Mark Zuckerberg, Google and MTV.
“This ‘Saint Pablo’ tour is the most relevant [thing] happening,” West told the crowd Saturday. “If your old a– keeps following old models, your a– is going to get Hillary Clintoned. You might not like it, but you need to hear it.”
West — who infamously interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards to declare Beyoncé should have won Video of the Year — mentioned this year’s awards show, when he lost in that same category to Beyoncé.
“Beyoncé, I was hurt because I heard that you said you wouldn’t perform unless you won Video of the Year over me and over ‘Hotline Bling,’ ” he said, adding that he didn’t want to dis the singer who was “great. Taylor Swift is great. We are all great people. We are all equal.”
He continued: “But sometimes we be playing the politics too much and forget who we are just to win.”
“I’ve been sitting here to give y’all my truth even at the risk of my own life,” West said. “Even at the risk of my own success, my own career.”
The remarks earned the ire of the Beyhive, members of which flooded his Instagram comments and propelled #KanyeIsOverParty to the top Twitter trending topic in the United States.
West canceled his Sunday night show at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., hours before it began, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The rapper was scheduled to perform in Fresno, Calif. on Tuesday night. That show, and 20 others, have been cancelled. That includes his Dec. 30 and Dec. 31 shows at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
West has been known for going on tweetstorms, but he remained silent on his social media accounts over the weekend. His Instagram account, which until Sunday only had one photo, suddenly became populated with dozens of blurry fashion photos.
(c) 2016, The Washington Post · Elahe Izadi
