Ohio rapper Kid Cudi walked off the stage in the middle of his headlining set at Rolling Loud Miami on Friday, July 22, after having water packs thrown at him by the audience. He walked off only half an hour after his set began.
Footage shared via TikTok and Twitter shows Cudi being struck in the face with a water pack while performing, at which point he stopped the set to confront the audience, warning: “You will ruin it for everybody. I will fucking leave. If I get hit with one more fucking thing—if I see one more fucking thing on this fucking stage, I’m leaving. Don’t fuck with me.” Moments later, another water pack flew, and more followed as the rapper then walked offstage. In another clip, audience members can be heard chanting “Kanye!” after Cudi walks off.
On Sunday, July 17, Rolling Loud announced that Ye, also known as Kanye West, was unable to perform on the first night of their Miami festival. Kid Cudi was announced as his replacement. Fans took to social media to express their displeasure with the last-minute change, with some people asking for refunds.
The former Kids See Ghost collaborators’ relationship dissolved following an Instagram post made by Ye announcing that Cudi would not be on Donda due to his friendship with Kim Kardashian’s new boyfriend, SNL alum Pete Davidson. Cudi replied, “Too bad I don’t wanna be on ur album u fuckin dinosaur hahahaha.”
Moments after Cudi walked offstage, Ye joined Lil Durk on the festival’s other headlining stage to perform The Life of Pablo cut “Father Stretch My Hands, Pt. 2,” which features Cudi on the chorus.
Cudi has not addressed the situation publicly as of this writing. Rolling Loud seemingly acknowledged the controversy with a tweet saying, “That was an interesting first night of #RLMIAMI.” ”
Paste has reached out to reps for Kid Cudi to request comment and will update this post with any we receive.
