Kanye “Ye” West Pulls Out of Headlining Coachella 2022
Hours after winning two Grammy Awards, Kanye “Ye” West has pulled out of his headlining spot at this year’s Coachella festival. He was set to headline on Sunday, Apr. 17, and Apr. 24. Now, organizers will be forced to scramble as Ye left them less than two weeks to adjust without him.
Ye’s had a difficult time recently in the public eye. The Recording Academy rescinded his Grammy performance invitation after his troubling online behavior. Ye has been criticized for comments about his estranged wife Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend Pete Davidson.
Coachella issues started months ago for Ye
According to a Page Six source, “Kanye has definitely pulled out of Coachella. He hasn’t been rehearsing or putting on a production. Travis Scott was supposed to be joining him onstage. Now it would be virtually impossible for him to get it together.”
In February, Billboard reported that Ye threatened to pull out of Coachella if Billie Eilish didn’t apologize for what he felt was a slight at Travis Scott. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Ye wrote, “Please apologize to Trav and to the families of the people who lost their lives.”
He continued, “Trav didn’t have any idea of what was happening when he was on stage and was very hurt by what happened, and yes Trav will be with me at Coachella but now I need Billie to apologize before I perform.”
The post was a response to Eilish pausing one of her concerts to help a fan in distress, saying, “I wait for the people to be OK before I keep going.”
Eilish responded underneath Ye’s demand for an apology, “Literally never said a thing about Travis. Was just helping a fan.”
A petition to remove Ye from Coachella currently has almost 50,000 signatures.
Grammys rescind performance invitation
Ye was recently suspended from Instagram for twenty-four hours after posting a racial slur about The Daily Show host, Trevor Noah. Noah referenced growing up in an abusive household dissecting the West-Karshaian-Davidson public drama in a lengthy segment. The following day, Ye responded on Instagram and received a suspension from the social media platform.
Noah hosted the 64th Annual Grammy Awards this year. He tried to clarify that he did not ask the academy to remove Ye as a performer, tweeting, “I said counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye,”
Interestingly, Ye still took home two Grammys for Best Melodic Rap Performance for “Hurricane” featuring The Weeknd and Best Rap Song for “Jail,” a collaboration with Jay-Z. Ye and Jay-Z are now tied for the most Grammy wins for a hip-hop artist, with twenty-four each.
Will The Weeknd take Ye’s place?
According to Page Six, organizers are trying to get The Weeknd to step in as a replacement.
The three headliners for Coachella were Ye, Billie Eilish, and Harry Styles. Swedish House Mafia was also boldfaced without a specific day listed on the marketing materials. It’s not unrealistic to think they may slide into Kanye’s headlining spot if The Weeknd can’t replace him.
The 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is scheduled over two weekends, April 15-17 and April 22-24, 2022. This marks a return to the desert of Indio, CA, for the first time since 2019, when coronavirus (COVID-19) forced a hiatus.
Ye’s reportedly ready to get help
A Page Six source says, “Kanye is backing out because he wants to stay out of the public eye after all the drama with Kim and Pete, he wants to get help.”
As reported by Vogue, Ye is a person diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder consists of two opposite ends of a mood spectrum: mania and depression.
Mania is an unstable mental state, described by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) as having telltale symptoms including “grandiosity, over-optimism, or impaired judgment”; it can also include hallucinations or delusions.
Depression, on the other hand, is described as “a state of persistent low mood and a decrease in energy and activity.”
Although it’s possible to flip between mania and depression during short periods of time, those diagnosed with bipolar can stay in those states for months or years at a time.
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
