The Weeknd Says He Won’t Play Coachella Without Kanye’s Paycheck

Kanye West’s replacement as one of the headliners at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival reportedly wants the same bag Ye would’ve received, or else.

The Weeknd, who was announced on Wednesday (April 6) as the headlining act who will replace the Donda 2 rapper/producer at the popular music festival, has demanded that he be paid the same $8 million that was supposedly allotted to Kanye for the Coachella performance. Otherwise, the “Hurricane” singer says he won’t perform at all, according to Page Six.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Kanye decided, on his own, to not take the main stage on Sunday, April 17, at the renowned Coachella festival for reasons that have not yet been disclosed to the public.

Despite the fact that Jason Lee, Ye’s new Head of Media and Partnerships, issued a statement earlier this week dispelling reports from Kanye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian that the recent Grammy award winner will be seeking external help in regards to his mental health, Page Six claims to have heard from their sources that the reasoning for Kanye backing out of a headlining slot is due to the fact that he wants to “stay out of the public eye after all the drama with Kim and Pete” and that he wants to “get help.”

The news of Kanye’s change of plans comes amidst a litany of controversy surrounding the Chicago native throughout recent months.

Initial interest in the “Eazy” rapper’s Coachella performance was heightened by the circulating rumors that Ye would be accompanied on stage by Travis Scott, which would’ve marked only the second public performance from the “Sicko Mode” rapper following the widely-publicized tragedy that took place at the Astrowold Festival in November of 2021.

XXL has reached out to reps for The Weeknd and Kanye West for comment.

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