Kanye West concert in South Korea cancelled over ‘controversies’

Kanye West, known as Ye, watches the first half of an NBA basketball game between the Washington Wizards and the Los Angeles Lakers, March 11, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) (Ashley Landis/AP)

SEOUL - South Korean e-commerce company Coupang CPNG.N has cancelled a Kanye West concert scheduled for late May “due to recent controversies involving the artist,” the company and a ticket vendor said on Monday.

Coupang and the Interpark ticket outlet did not elaborate on the controversies involving West, who is now known as Ye.

The U.S. rapper’s latest controversy involves a song released this month entitled “Heil Hitler,” which praises the Nazi leader and architect of the Holocaust.

The sportswear company Adidas ended their shoe collaboration with West in October 2022 over a series of antisemitic rants and sold the last pair of his Yeezy branded shoes in March.

Coupang and Interpark said all the tickets that had been sold for the single show in Incheon on May 31 would be fully refunded. Coupang, whose streaming service, Coupang Play, was organizing the concert, also suspended the sale of merchandise by West’s Yeezy fashion line on Monday, it said.

Reporting by Jack Kim; Editing by Ed Davies and Kate Mayberry, Reuters