After a tumultuous weekend that found him going off-script for nearly 20 minutes at one concert and canceling another altogether, Rolling Stone is reporting that Kanye West has abruptly pulled out of the remainder of his “Saint Pablo” tour, including his December 2 stop at Houston’s Toyota Center. No reason was given, but given the rapper’s recent behavior, it’s hardly a shocking turn of events.
Without explanation, West canceled his show scheduled for Sunday night at The Forum near Los Angeles. The night before in Sacramento, he ended the show after performing just three songs and a 17-minute rant touching on Beyoncé, MTV’s Video Music Awards, Facebook, Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and more, according to The New York Times.
“Sometimes we be playing the politics too much and forget who we are just to win,” the Times quoted West during his Sacramento remarks. “I’ve been sitting here to give y’all my truth even at the risk of my own life — even at the risk of my own success, my own career.”
West himself has thus far kept mum about the cancellations, but did post more than 100 fashion photos to his Instagram site Sunday evening, Rolling Stone added. Until this weekend, the tour had been drawing positive reviews both for West’s largely tantrum-free performances and for the innovative production design featuring a platform-stage hovering over the crowd. After he sold out Toyota Center in mid-September, the encore date had been added thanks to popular demand, according to the Toyota Center site.
In fact, the entry for the second “Saint Pablo” Houston stop is still up, for now. West’s spokesperson also said refunds for the canceled dates should be available at point of purchase, albeit not when.
This article appears in Nov 17-23, 2016.
