Ye’s Russia Shows Canceled After Venue Says No Rental Agreement Has Been Signed

Ye’s (formerly Kanye West) pair of Russia shows slated for October have been canceled by the venue. Saint Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena posted on social media on Monday (Aug. 24) that the 80,000-capacity stadium “did not sign any contracts for the stadium rent for the event.”

“There is no such agreement,” the post continued. “Accordingly, the concert cannot take place on our site.”

The Russian shows were set for Oct. 10 and Oct. 11 and promoters are now scrambling to find a new venue, according to BBC.

“We learned about [it] at the same time as you did, through the media,” Say Agency reportedly wrote on Telegram. “As of now, the Ye concert has not been canceled. We are trying to contact the venue to find out the reason for the post and resolve the issue. We will keep you updated.”

If he took the Gazprom Arena stage, West would have been the first rap superstar to perform in Russia since the country invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Billboard has reached out to Ye’s reps for comment.

Publicly, Ye has remained mostly quiet in 2026 while touring with spot dates across the globe. Overseas, he’s performed in Turkey, the Netherlands, Georgia, Albania, Portugal, Spain and Kazakhstan this year.

In the U.S., the Grammy-winning rapper returned in April with a pair of SoFi Stadium shows in Los Angeles and has made stops in Tampa Bay and San Antonio. Ye’s performing in New Orleans on Friday (Aug. 28) and then has a pair of homecoming concerts in Chicago at Soldier Field on Sept. 3-4.

West is still feeling the backlash from his years of antisemitic remarks and embrace of Nazi symbolism, which began in 2022. He’s had shows in France, Poland, Czech Republic and a headlining set at London’s Wireless Fest canceled this year, while dates in Italy and India cited “security concerns.”

On the music front, Ye released his Bully album in March, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.