Kanye West Barred From Performing at Grammys Due to ‘Concerning Online Behavior,’ Rep Says
variety.comJem Aswad Senior Music EditorKanye West has been barred from performing at the Grammy Awards due to his “concerning online behavior,” a rep for the artist confirms to Variety.
Reps for the Recording Academy, which presents the Grammys, did not immediately respond to Variety‘s requests for comment on the claim early Saturday.West’s rep cited a report in the Blast posted late Friday claiming that the artist’s team received a phone call Friday night informing him he had been “unfortunately” removed from the lineup of performers for the show due to his “concerning online behavior.” While West was not among the first list of performers, which was announced on Tuesday, he may have been a planned performer.
A rep for West sent Variety a link to that story, saying only “This is confirmed”; the rep did not respond to requests for further information, although the Blast report states, “Our sources say Kanye’s team isn’t surprised by the decision.” Nor should they be.
While Academy reps did not respond to requests for comment, there are many reasons why a Kanye West performance on live network television would be a prohibitively risky proposition.
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