The artist formerly known as Kanye West has made good on his recent threat to pull out of Coachella 2022, according to a TMZ report confirmed by Variety. Reps for Ye and Coachella did not immediately respond to Paste’s requests for comment.
It’s unclear why Ye is canceling his headlining set, but a Variety source claims the Donda rapper “had not rehearsed or prepared for the appearance,” while TMZ notes that a rumored joint Travis Scott appearance is also off the table. Ye had been scheduled to perform on both closing nights of the sold-out two-weekend festival, set for April 15-17 and 22-24, headlining alongside Harry Styles and Billie Eilish.
The erratic rapper won two awards at Sunday night’s 64th Grammys, but was barred from performing at the awards show due to his recent “concerning online behavior,” which has seen Ye using his massive platform on Instagram to harangue Kim Kardashian, Pete Davidson, Trevor Noah, D.L. Hughley and others. It was there he demanded Eilish apologize to Scott for alluding to the Astroworld tragedy, writing in his since-deleted post, “Trav will be with me at Coachella but now I need Billie to apologise before I perform.” That didn’t happen—now, neither will the rappers’ Coachella set. Ye was banned from Instagram for 24 hours in mid-March, and hasn’t posted on the social network since.
As Variety points out, EDM stars Swedish House Mafia, who are currently in the midst of a comeback, are floating on the Coachella lineup poster, making them the obvious choice to slot into the headlining spot Ye vacates. The rapper last headlined Coachella in 2011.
See the 2022 Coachella lineup below, and stay tuned for further updates.
