Ye (Kanye West) sold 100,000 tickets to two St. Petersburg stadium shows in two days. Now a Russian lawmaker wants the concerts canceled unless he declares ‘moral support’ for the war on Ukraine.

Filed 1w ago · Via Meduza · The Buffoon Desk

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Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: various · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Ye is scheduled to perform two shows at St. Petersburg's Gazprom Arena on October 10 and 11, with organizers claiming over 100,000 tickets sold in the first two days. State Duma deputies are publicly split: one wants the concerts canceled unless Ye declares 'moral support' for the invasion of Ukraine, another wants a chunk of proceeds sent to Russian troops, while others are floating a Putin meeting.

Rumors of a duet with pro-war singer Shaman surfaced and were denied by organizers, while another Russian musician has angled for a slot without success. Short-term rental demand has reportedly jumped sevenfold to sixteenfold and train ticket demand 41-fold around the concert dates.

An event organizer claims meeting Putin has 'long been Ye's dream' and that he has voiced admiration for the Russian president for years — claims resting entirely on the organizer's say-so.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

When a legislature debates whether a rapper must endorse a war to sing, the ticket is no longer to a concert — it's to a loyalty audition with pyrotechnics. And note the sourcing: every superlative here comes from the people selling the seats, whose 'dreams' on the artist's behalf grow more vivid with each press cycle. An entertainment economy where admission requires ideology is not an entertainment economy; it's a checkpoint with a merch table.

Source: Read the original at Meduza → Scored: Hyperfun · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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