Kanye West cancels Saint Petersburg concerts following contract dispute and fraud inquiry

Official cancellation and refunds

Concert promoter Say Agency officially canceled two scheduled performances by American rapper Ye, known as Kanye West, in Saint Petersburg. The shows were slated for 10 and 11 October in the city along the Neva River, which is the hometown of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Moscow-based promoter delivered the cancellation notice on Wednesday in a message distributed on its Telegram channel. Say Agency stated that the events could not go ahead as planned, ending weeks of speculation across Russian and international media. The organizers pledged to release a detailed statement soon outlining the overall status of the project and their next steps.

Dear friends, we regret to inform you that the Ye concerts in St. Petersburg cannot take place on the scheduled dates.

Ticket refunds will begin on 12 October through the original point of sale. Ticket pricing ranged between roughly €100 for standard admission and €1,700 for VIP packages, reaching up to 160,000 rubles or nearly $2,000. Demand was high upon release, with entry-level tickets selling out rapidly alongside an immediate spike in regional train bookings into the city. Following public discrepancies around the event, Russian business newspaper Kommersant reported that state authorities launched an investigation into the organizers regarding potential fraud.

Venue dispute and schedule changes

The production encountered institutional resistance shortly after its public announcement. The planned venue, Saint Petersburg's 80,000-seat Gazprom Arena, stated in August that no binding agreements had been signed with the promotional team. The venue confirmed that without signed paperwork, the concerts could not be staged on its property. Despite this statement, Say Agency repeatedly insisted an agreement was active and refused to halt preparations.

Accordingly, the concert cannot take place on our premises.

This contradiction left ticket holders without clarity for more than a month regarding the status of their purchases. In mid-September, both Russian dates were quietly removed from the musician's official tour calendar. Say Agency acknowledged the prolonged uncertainty in its closing message, thanking patrons who supported the initiative over the preceding six weeks. The agency stated that its team remains in contact with stakeholders and continues work on upcoming projects.

Domestic reception and European tour cancellations

The proposed shows drew attention because they would have marked the first performance by a prominent Western music figure in Russia since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Domestic political figures offered divided assessments of the tour. Several Russian parliamentarians praised the planned visit as a triumph over external political pressure and anti-Russian sentiment. Conversely, domestic critics cited the rapper's recurring public controversies, including statements praising Adolf Hitler and the 2025 release of a song titled "Heil Hitler".

The artist, who was previously married to Kim Kardashian, has faced similar administrative hurdles across European venues. Promoters canceled multiple planned appearances in European cities in recent months, including a scheduled concert in Italy in July. The rapper has previously defended his inflammatory comments by citing a bipolar disorder diagnosis, while stating that he does not identify as a Nazi or an antisemite.