Entertainment

Kanye West's Surprise Show Didn't Actually Happen

by Nicole Pomarico

When Kanye West announces he's doing a surprise show, prepare for chaos — and then some. On Sunday night, West canceled his pop up show at Webster Hall in New York City after crowds waiting for the sold out performance got out of control, and instead of seeing the great Yeezy perform, fans ended up disappointed. And by the time the night ended, it sounds like the scene outside the venue turned into a pretty scary situation.

Thanks to severe weather, NYC's Governors Ball music festival was canceled Sunday, which meant West didn't perform as scheduled. But then, the Life of Pablo singer gave his fans hope when his creative director, Virgil Abloh, confirmed that a surprise show was in the works. News soon broke that the show would be at Webster Hall... and you can probably guess where this story is headed. Tell the Internet where West will be and you can pretty much bet that people will show up in droves, and it sounds like it didn't take long for the whole block to turn into a total mess. At 2 a.m. West tweeted that the show was sold out, but the worst part of all happened when that show got canceled too, disappointing West's fans for a second time in the same night.

But after hearing accounts of what Webster Hall was like that night, it's not surprising Yeezy had to back out. According to The Daily Beast, people climbed on top of cars that were parked on the streets to get a better view, and as the show got closer, the crowds only got more intense. Some fans who were there claimed to the site that people were trampled and passing out. One witness said, "You can’t go anywhere. You can’t even breathe. People are just pushing each other. I love you Kanye, but it’s not worth it.”

Just before 2 a.m., Webster Hall tweeted that there was "no late show" happening, and a spokesperson for the NYPD told CNN that officers had been called in for crowd control. But the fun wasn't over yet. West drove by, his head sticking out of a sunroof, and unfortunately, that's as close as onlookers got to seeing him perform that night. Cool, but still a total mob scene as you can see in this video:

Never again will I doubt the power of Kanye West — or his fans. Where West goes, crowds will follow. It's pretty much guaranteed.