Gazprom Arena had said in August it had not signed a rental agreement for the shows
Two stadium gigs in Russia by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, have officially been cancelled, ending weeks of uncertainty over whether the shows could go ahead at St Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena on 10 and 11 October. Had the concerts proceeded, they would have been the biggest by a Western artist in Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
In a post on messaging app Telegram, Moscow-based gig organisers Say Agency confirmed the concerts had been cancelled with “sincere regret.”
“The Ye concerts in St Petersburg will not be able to take place on the scheduled dates,” the Moscow-based agency wrote. “We will issue an official statement regarding the status of the project and our plans in the near future.”
Gazprom Arena said in August that it had not signed a rental agreement with the concert promoters and so the gig could not take place on its site, according to BBC News reporting. The stadium also acknowledged it had received complaints about West’s performance.
Say Agency had said it was working to resolve the issue with the stadium before confirming the concerts could not go ahead.
The Russian political reaction had preceded the venue’s August statement. Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova publicly criticised the planned shows as unacceptable, pointing to West’s “glorification” of Hitler. Russia was invaded by Nazi Germany in World War Two, a history the BBC reported Foreign Ministry officials invoked in criticising the planned performances.
In 2025, Ye started selling swastika T-shirts and released a song called “Heil Hitler,” the BBC reported.
Pro-war bloggers in Russia also questioned whether the country should be hosting an American artist while the United States provided financial and military support for Ukraine.
According to BBC News, Ye has recently apologised for multiple antisemitic and pro-Nazi comments, saying he had “lost touch with reality” as a result of his bipolar disorder. The rapper is yet to comment publicly on the cancellation of the St Petersburg dates.
His return to touring earlier this year included his first major US concert in more than five years, held in Los Angeles in April. He has since played in countries including Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. The St Petersburg dates would have extended that run into Russia.
The Russian shows were not the only cancellations Ye has faced. Last summer he was set to headline London’s Wireless Festival but was barred from entering the United Kingdom, forcing organisers to cancel the entire event. West shows were also cancelled in Poland, Italy and France.