KANYE West “lost $8.5 Million” after walking away from his Coachella performance.
The rapper talked about pulling out of the performance in a Twitter rant.
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Kanye’s decision to pull out of the performance cost him dearly, according to TMZ.
The outlet revealed on Wednesday that the Chicago native lost $8 million for bailing on his two-weekend headlining gig.
Sourced told the outlet that Coachella also planned to pay $500,000 in production costs.
Additionally, insiders with knowledge of the situation say it appears Kanye got the idea to bail on his concert commitment long before his social media declaration.
Sources told the outlet that Kanye appears to have been ready to walk away for quite some time.
He reportedly had never seriously rehearsed, which other artists spend months doing before they take the stage at the performance.
TMZ reported that Kanye had a team in place that was talking with producers, but there was a lot of work that had not yet begun to prepare for the show.
Coachella producers were reportedly stunned by Kanye’s decision even so, and did not have a plan to fill his spot – at least, not immediately.
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Organizers have since figured it out, filling the headliner position with The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia.
According to sources, The Weeknd will be paid what Kanye was expected to earn for his participation.
Coachella kicks off in about two weeks with more than 100,000 people expected to attend.
MONEY DEMANDS
Although The Weeknd is booked to perform, he’s also got a very specific list of demands according to Page Six.
According to the outlet, organizers reportedly tried to give The Weeknd less than Kanye was set to get paid.
Sources told Page Six that the singer threatened to pull out of the show if he wasn’t paid the same amount the Donda rapper was offered – $8.5 million.
Per the outlet, Coachella was quick to announce that The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia would replace the Yeezy designer, however, the deal wasn’t set in stone as of yet.
An insider said: “The Weeknd came in at short notice to take Kanye’s top spot. But Phil Anshutz [who owns the Coachella Festival through AEG Live] wanted to hold on to Kanye’s money and pay The Weekend for less, just a few million. The festival would pocket the rest.”
They went on: “Even after Coachella announced the new lineup on Wednesday, a deal wasn’t in place for The Weeknd, who threatened to pull out at an hour’s notice if he didn’t get the same deal as Kanye.
“Finally, on Wednesday – faced with the prospect of a second headline act pulling out of Coachella at the last minute – Anschutz’s company caved and agrees to pay The Weeknd the same money.”
KANYE QUITS
Kanye announced that he was pulling out earlier this week.
TMZ broke the news, with sources alleging that Travis Scott was also due to perform with the musician at the show.
It was due to be his first major performance since Astroworld, which ended in tragedy.
At the time, it was not clear why Kanye decided not to perform at Coachella.
In early April, it was widely reported that Kanye confessed to ex-wife Kim Kardashian that he was “going away to get help.”
A source close to the Kardashians told Page Six: “For the sake of the kids, Kanye has told Kim he’s not making any public appearances or inflammatory social media statements, and he will go away somewhere to get better.”
According to the outlet, it was not known at the time if “away” mean he planned to go to a specific treatment center or something else.
The source said that “at this time, Ye is committed to a healthy co-parenting relationship with Kim and is focused on raising their beautiful children.”
Kim and Kanye share four kids: North, Chicago, Saint and Psalm.
Jason Lee, the rapper’s Head of Media Partnerships, told Yahoo that the Page Six report about Kanye was “simply untrue.”
He said: “Ye’s been focused on taking care of himself, being a present and loving father and a creative genius.”
