The Weeknd reportedly threatened to pull out of Coachella after being offered less money than Kanye West

7 April 2022, 11:39

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By Jazmin Duribe

Kanye West was allegedly set to earn $8.5 million from his Coachella headline gig.

The Weeknd reportedly threatened to pull out of his headlining performance at Coachella unless the festival organisers matched what would have been paid to Kanye West.

In case you didn't know, Kanye West was initially meant to perform during the Sunday slot at Coachella, which kicks off on April 15. Harry Styles will be playing on the Friday of the infamous two-weekend festival, while Billie Eilish will be performing on Saturday.

However, less than two weeks before the 'Jesus Walks' rapper was due to perform, it was revealed that he had dropped out of playing at the festival. Neither Kanye or Coachella revealed why he chose not to go ahead with the performance, but back in February, Kanye said he would need Billie Eilish to apologise to Travis Scott for seemingly taking a swipe at the Astroworld controversy before he performs.

READ MORE: Kanye West's Instagram account suspended after racist attack on Trevor Noah

On Wednesday (Apr 6), it was announced that Kanye would be replaced by The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia. However a new report from Page Six claims The Weeknd threatened to pull out of the festival after being offered less money than Kanye's $8.5 million performance fee ($500,000 of that is intended to cover production costs).

A source told the publication: "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.

"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."

After some back and forth between The Weeknd and Coachella, a fair deal was arranged. The source added: "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."

Once the news hit the internet, people debated if The Weeknd and Kanye West should be paid the same amount.

Do you think The Weeknd deserves to be paid the same as Kanye West? Tweet us @popbuzz and let us know!

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