Kanye West’s sold-out Russian concerts canceled, Russian foreign ministry says Ye’s ‘glorification’ of Adolf Hitler unacceptable

Kanye West made his feelings about Adolf Hitler quite clear. In 2022, he said, “I like Hitler,” “I see good things about Hitler,” and “He had a really cool outfit.” He backed that up in 2025 by saying “I LOVE HITLER,” “IM A NAZI,” “Hitler was sooooo fresh,” and asked that fans “CALL ME YAYDOLF YITLER…”

In 2025, Ye released the song ‘Heil Hitler’, in which he repeatedly says “Heil Hitler”, and raps, “I became a nazi, yeah.” He also released a swastika t-shirt on his website. Ye later apologized, said this was all the result of brain damage, and that he’d become “detached from my true self.”

But words (even retracted ones) have consequences, and now Ye’s sold-out Russian concerts have been canceled in the face of government disapproval over his Hitler comments. Ye had been due to play the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg next week, on 10 and 11 October.

“To us, whose country lost 27 million people to Hitler, no need to apologize?”

Now organizer Say Agency has said (via The Guardian): “Friends, it is with sincere regret that we inform you that the Ye concerts in St Petersburg on the scheduled dates will not be able to take place. In the near future, we will reach out to you with an official statement regarding the status of the project and future plans. Say Agency is very grateful to everyone who has been by our side these past month and a half: supporting us, worrying, and, like us, waiting for these concerts with all their hearts. We remain in touch and continue to work.”

The cancelation comes against the backdrop of widespread disapproval from the Putin government over Ye’s Hitler comments, said to amount to ‘glorification’. Maria Zakharova, official spokesperson for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, said he had (via Pravda), “How can he perform in our country? Moreover, they began to talk about St. Petersburg, besieged Leningrad… And how could it be the same in any other city in our country? Would it be better in Moscow?” 

Zakharova also argued that Ye might have apologized to Jewish people for praising Hitler, but so far has not extended an apology to Russians. Speaking to blogger Georgy Ivashchenko (via ria.ru), she said: “When I hear that he sort of apologized to the Jews, I want to ask: what about the Russians? What about the Belarusians? What about the people of other nationalities who live here in our country? I can tell you: no, he didn’t apologize… And to us, whose country lost 27 million people to Hitler, no need to apologize?” 

Another politician, Nikolay Novichkov, previously said the concerts should be cancelled unless Ye made a public statement confirming his “moral support for Russia and the special military operation”, the approved term for Russia’s attempted invasion of Ukraine. Ye has made no such comments.