Russian media went wild Wednesday with claims Kanye West was on his way to the Russian capital for a massive concert next month.
The concert plans were first announced by the Kremlin-friendly Mash Telegram channel, which declared that the “genius” and “rap icon” would be performing on his birthday “IN RUSSIA!” of all places. Citing unnamed organizers, Mash said a contract had already been signed for a June 8 concert at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
Representatives of Luzhniki Stadium quickly shot down that claim, however, as did the general director of a company helping to organize performances by international stars.
Eduard Ratnikov told Russia’s TASS that he’d personally been in touch with West a couple months back after the American expressed an interest in having a concert in Russia.
“But it ended with nothing, because it is an absolutely empty story. When I saw this fake news today, I checked with the management of Luzhniki just in case, and there, naturally, they denied this news,” Ratnikov was quoted as saying.
REN-TV reported that plans for the concert fell apart because West wanted at least $5 million for the concert, and no one was able to pay that. Reps for West did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.
It was not clear if the rapper was still considering a concert in Russia. Some Russian news reports claimed talks are still underway with West. While he is not performing at Luzhniki on June 8, the stadium is hosting a rap festival that day called “Atlanta Summer Festival,” according to promotional materials.