ST PETERSBURG — Two sold-out concerts by Ye in St Petersburg scheduled for 10 and 11 October have been canceled. The Moscow-based organiser Say Agency confirmed the cancellation in a post on the messaging app Telegram.

"Friends, it is with sincere regret that we inform you that the Ye concerts in St Petersburg on the scheduled dates will not be able to take place," the agency said. Ticket refunds for the canceled concerts will be available from Monday 12 October.

Say Agency added that it would provide further details later. "In the near future, we will reach out to you with an official statement regarding the status of the project and future plans," the organiser said.

The cancellation follows months of opposition from venue management and government officials. Gazprom Arena stated in August that it had not signed a rental agreement with the concert promoters, preventing the events from taking place at the venue. The arena acknowledged receiving complaints about the planned shows.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called the planned shows unacceptable due to Ye's glorification of Adolf Hitler. Russian politician Nikolay Novichkov called for an investigation into Ye for praising Hitler and stated the concerts should be canceled unless Ye publicly declared moral support for Russia and its military operation in Ukraine.

Ye released a song titled Heil Hitler and sold swastika T-shirts last year. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite.

I love Jewish people, Ye wrote. He attributed his behavior to a four-month manic episode caused by bipolar disorder.

The St Petersburg cancellations are part of a broader pattern of disrupted performances. Ye's headline appearances at London’s Wireless festival were canceled in April after he was denied a UK visa. One of West’s concerts in Italy was canceled the month following the UK visa denial over 'public order and safety issues'. Ye's scheduled performance at the Pulse of Gaia festival in Reggio Emilia, Italy, in July was stopped by prefect Salvatore Angieri following concerns from the local Jewish community.

Despite these disruptions, Ye has continued to perform internationally. Ye held his first major US concert in more than five years in Los Angeles in April. Ye has performed in Turkey, the Netherlands, Georgia, Albania, Portugal, and Kazakhstan. West has played in Spain since his Los Angeles concert in April.

What's New

Gazprom Arena is an association football stadium in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Why It Matters

The cancellation of the St Petersburg concerts shows the ongoing tension between Ye's commercial activities and political backlash in multiple countries. Government officials in Russia cited specific objections to Ye's past statements and actions as grounds for opposing the events, while venue management pointed to a lack of formal agreements and public complaints.

This event fits a documented pattern of canceled or halted performances in Europe following visa denials and administrative interventions. The sequence of disruptions in the United Kingdom, Italy, and now Russia demonstrates how regulatory and political responses have affected Ye's touring schedule across different jurisdictions.