Kanye West cancels entire Saint Pablo tour following stage rant
- Published
Kanye West's innovative Saint Pablo tour is performed on a "floating" platform, suspended above the audience
Rapper Kanye West has cancelled all remaining dates on his Saint Pablo tour, two days after abandoning a show in Sacramento.
The star had performed just three songs on Saturday night, before embarking on an unscripted rant, criticising Facebook, Jay Z and Hillary Clinton.
He also claimed Beyonce would only agree to play the MTV Awards if she was given the video of the year prize.
After cancelling Sunday's show in LA, West has now scrapped all future dates.
"Tickets will be fully refunded within 5-7 business days," promoters Live Nation tweeted., external
Los Angeles Times' music writer Gerrick Kennedy had previously alluded to the news on Twitter, external: "Just got word from a source that @kanyewest informed his crew that remaining dates of US #SaintPabloTour are nixed."
No reason has been given for the cancellation.
The Saint Pablo tour, in which West performed above the stage on an innovative "floating" platform, was scheduled for a further 21 dates before the end of 2016.
A much-rumoured European leg of the tour will now be cast into doubt.
West dashed to Kardashian's side after she was held at gunpoint during Paris Fashion Week
Although West's on stage behaviour has often been erratic, the star has perhaps been under added stress since his wife, Kim Kardashian, was robbed at gunpoint in Paris in October.
He learned of the incident while performing in New York and abruptly left the stage to be by her side.
West then cancelled several dates the following week but when the tour resumed in his hometown, Chicago, he appeared content to let the music do the talking.
Nearly a dozen dates passed without incident, until a show in Oakland on 22 October, when he called the Grammys "rigged" and lambasted the New York Post for publishing a story claiming Jay Z had called West a "nut job".
"A crazy person can't do all this," he said. "A crazy person can't make this floating stage."
"Stop writing negative [articles] about me and help me help people," he added.
He ended the night by lecturing the crowd on politics, at one point claiming: "We were brought over here as slaves, and Lincoln turned us into unpaid interns."
The star has a history of giving unscripted stage rants
On 4 November, he cut a show short after his voice failed, telling fans. "I'm so hoarse I can't finish the show. I'll give everyone a refund."
Then, last Thursday, West embarked on what local reports called a "25-minute-long rant, external" in which he voiced frustration with politics and told the crowd: "If I would have voted, I would have voted for Trump."
"I wanted to say that before the election, but they told me, 'Whatever you do, don't say that aloud,'" he added.
Angry fans responded by booing the star and throwing items on stage.
'Show's over'
On Saturday, he began his rant by complaining how radio stations favoured certain acts over others.
He later criticised Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg for failing to give him $53m (£42.5m) to get out of debt and said he was hurt that Jay Z failed to visit his family after last month's robbery.
West then appeared to suggest that Jay Z employed hitmen, saying: "Jay Z, I know you got killers, please don't send them at my head".
The tour began in August. No reason has been given for the cancellation
"I've been sent here to give y'all my truth - even at the risk of my own life, even at the risk of my own success, my own career.
"Get ready to have a field day, press, because the show's over" he said, as he dropped his microphone and walked out of the concert.
Ticketholders were given a refund.
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