Kanye West Backed Out of Coachella Because of One Strange Reason

Some of our favorite celebrities can be a touch eccentric. We sometimes can’t really process how they thought about their decisions because they live in a world that is so far from our normal day-to-day life. It’s not something to hold against them, though, and it’s just something we fans need to accept because it’s part of their personality.

Let’s take Kanye West for example. The well-known rapper has recently been in a lot of hot topics lately because of his seemingly undying support for the current President of The United States, as well as the alleged rumors of him and wifey Kim Kardashian West having some trouble in their erstwhile seemingly perfect marriage.

West has made headlines again because of how he has pulled out from the Coachella lineup. It’s not just because of the fact that he is no longer set to perform in the popular music festival, though. It’s the reason for rescinding his agreement to perform. According to sources, West allegedly backed out of the festival after the staff refused to build a requested giant dome in the Coachella grounds.

The Discussion

Executives from Goldenvoice, the parent company of the Coachella Festival, say they explained to West the reason for why they couldn’t comply with his demands. West’s envisioned dome was apparently so large that it was impossible to put up in the four months left before the festival started. This happened just two days before West was to be announced as one of the acts fans could look forward to in this massive music festival.

Goldenvoice also shared that they would need to rearrange the entire festival site to fit West’s dome in the grounds, as well as remove a large swath of portable bathrooms.

He was also said to be one of the headliners prior to his backing out, despite the fact that his demand was also a last-minute surprise, according to the concert promoters. Paul Tollett, one of the co-founders of Coachella, was the person West approached for his grand request. Apparently, West didn’t want to perform on the same stage as the rest of the performers and asked Tollet to construct a massive dome right in the middle of the grounds.

When West heard his request denied, he apparently became irritated and allegedly declared that an artist with creative vision such as him shouldn’t be wasting his time discussing Porta-Potties. He then declared that the bathrooms were Goldenvoice’s responsibility, and to deal with it prior to hanging up abruptly.

The Aftermath

The proposed dome would have been designed by John McGuire, who is Kanye West’s set designer.

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Before the day ended, Tollett and the team moved into action and were in discussions with Scooter Braun to have Ariana Grande fill in the spot West left behind. Coincidentally, Braun had a professional relationship with West but terminated it in early December. Within 24 hours of West leaving, Grande was set to be the one performing on the last night of the huge festival.

Coachella’s Inconsistencies

These last-minute cancellations only added to the amount of work the team had to do within the short time left before the concert. Coachella is one of the biggest music festivals in the entire world, with high-caliber artists allegedly raking in anywhere from $2 million to $5 million per performance.

: Justin Timberlake also left the headliner lineup after rescheduling his tour dates due to bruised vocal cords. Tame Impala, an Australian rock band, is set to replace him in the top headliner spot.

This year is the festival’s 20th season, which is said to have enough band power to push out the demands of stars like Kanye West and still be able to sell tickets worth hundreds of millions of dollars. This held true as the festival sold out its initial release of tickets within six hours. 

The festival is set to span across two weekends, the first batch on April 12th-14th and the next one on the 19th-21st. It is also mentioned that Coachella wasn’t the only festival West had disagreements with as he also requested, and was denied, a dome at the Governor’s Ball in New York