The Weeknd 'threatened to pull out of Coachella' after being offered less money than Kanye West
8 April 2022, 16:04
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After learning about Ye's $8 million dollar pay day, the Blinding Lights singer demanded he be paid the same otherwise he will pull out at an hour's notice
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The Weeknd has demanded he be paid the same as amount of money that Kanye West was originally offered after agreeing to step in for the DONDA 2 rapper after he pulled out a week before the festival.
The Weeknd rumoured to replace Kanye West as Coachella headliner
According to Page Six, the Coachella organisers didn't want to pay the 'Out of Time' singer the same $8 million plus $500,000 in production cost as Kanye, for undisclosed reasons.
A source close to the festival revealed: "The Weeknd came in at short notice to take Kanye’s top spot. But Phil Anschutz, who owns the Coachella Festival through AEG Live, wanted to hold on to Kanye’s money and pay The Weeknd far less, just a few million. The festival would pocket the rest".
The Weeknd – whose real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye – officially replaced the troubled rapper in the headline spot alongside Swedish House Mafia after he dropped out due to him seeking help in regards to his concerning behaviour in the past weeks.
"Even after Coachella announced the new lineup on Wednesday, a deal wasn’t in place for The Weeknd, who threatened to pull out at an hour’s notice if he didn’t get the same deal as Kanye" the source continued.
After The Weeknd threatened to pull out of the festival one hour before it starts next week, the festival backed down and agreed to his demands and match the money.
"Finally, on Wednesday — faced with the prospect of a second headline act pulling out of Coachella at the last minute — Anschutz’s company caved and agreed to pay The Weeknd the same money" it was claimed.
