Russian stadium says Kanye West gigs “cannot take place”

A stadium in Russia has said that the two planned Kanye West gigs “cannot take place”.

READ MORE: Donda 2: Kanye West’s ego is scuppering these half-baked, dashed-off sounding songs The two shows in St Petersburg were announced earlier this month , and tickets sold out within hours.

They are set to take place at the Gazprom Arena on October 10 and 11, and will make West one of the first major artists to perform in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

At the time the gigs were confirmed, Russian lawmaker Vitaly Milonov spoke out and suggested that the rapper should perform traditional Russian songs at the event, instead of his usual setlist.

“Maybe after this he’ll stop his disgusting antics and become a normal person,” he added in a video statement.

Now, Gazprom Arena has said that the shows “cannot take place on our site”.

Spokespeople for the arena said that there was no rental agreement that had been signed with the concert promoters.

They also acknowledged complaints that had been sent in about West being booked to perform, and said that the company “was not and is not” behind the decision to book the rapper.

JUST IN: Kanye West is set to perform in Russia for the first time, with two concerts scheduled for October 10 and 11 at St.

Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena, according to organizer Say Agency. pic.twitter.com/HXKrSuIiob — Brian McDonald (@BrianMcDonaldIE) August 17, 2026 Instead, it is the Moscow-based Say Agency that booked the shows, they claimed.

They also added the announcement that Ye would be playing at the arena came as a surprise and they “learned about [it] at the same time as [everyone else] did, through the media” (via BBC News ).

Later in their statement, they said that “As of now, the Ye concert has not been cancelled”, and they are “trying to contact the venue to find out the reason for the post and resolve the issue”.

In response, Say Agency said that the Ye booking was based on an “an official letter that was approved by” Gazprom Arena.

It also said that the stadium sent over a rental agreement, although it was not signed yet.