A musical shake-up. After replacing Travis Scott at Coachella 2022, Kanye West stepped down weeks before the music festival was set to start.
West, 44, who was scheduled to headline the closing night of the three-day event on April 17 and April 24, dropped out of the event earlier that month. The Yeezy designer’s spot was then given to The Weeknd.
The Illinois native’s decision comes after he was originally brought in to replace Scott, 30, amid the Astroworld concert tragedy. In November 2021, ten fans died during the Texas native’s sold-out musical festival in Houston. The “mass casualty incident” occurred after a crowd surge and caused many injuries as well.
West later made headlines when he called out fellow performer Billie Eilish for her comments at a concert, which he took as a dig toward Scott.
In February, Eilish, 20, was applauded online when she stopped a set in Georgia to help a fan who was struggling in the pit. The Grammy winner asked for security to get the audience member an inhaler after they were seen having trouble breathing.
“It’s OK, it’s OK. We got one,” Eilish said in viral footage from the concert. “Give her some time, don’t crowd [her]. Relax, relax, it’s OK. We’re taking care of our people, hold on. I wait for people to be OK until I keep going.”
The “Famous” rapper, for his part, questioned whether that was a shady remark about Scott, writing via Instagram, “COME ON BILLIE WE LOVE YOU PLEASE APOLOGIZE TO TRAV AND TO THE FAMILIES OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES. NO ONE INTENDED THIS TO HAPPEN TRAV DIDN’T HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING WHEN HE WAS ON STAGE AND WAS VERY HURT BY WHAT HAPPENED AND YES TRAV WILL BE WITH ME AT COACHELLA BUT NOW I NEED BILLIE TO APOLOGIZE BEFORE I PERFORM.”
The “Happier Than Ever” singer replied in the comments section, writing, “Literally never said a thing about Travis. Was just helping a fan.”
That same month, West continued to raise eyebrows with his social media activity toward ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and her boyfriend, Pete Davidson. In response to West’s controversial comments, fans requested for the record producer to not appear at Coachella.
“We have watched Kanye harass, manipulate, and hurt Kim, Pete, and others for over a year now,” a Change.org petition, which nearly 50,000 people signed at the time, stated. “This is ridiculous that he is allowed to freely do this. Coachella (along with other brand names that are still working with him) should be ashamed of themselves and should not be giving him any more of a platform.”
Before dropping out of Coachella, West was banned from performing at the Grammys due to his use of a racial slur against host Trevor Noah. The fashion designer, who skipped out on the Las Vegas awards show, went on to win for Best Rap Song and Best Melodic Rap Performance.
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