Kanye West would like an apology.
The Grammy award-winning rapper has been all over the news lately thanks to his outspoken opinions and willingness to share them publicly. Ye’s comments have mostly been focused on his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, in recent weeks. But now he’s turning his attention to fellow musician Billie Eilish.
West and Eilish are scheduled to headline the Coachella music festival together in April. But now the “Donda” rapper claims he’s going to back out unless Eilish apologizes to Travis Scott for an alleged diss she made against him during a recent performance.
It all started when a fan at the “Bad Guy” singer’s Atlanta show started showing signs of distress as the crowd got rowdy. A viral video of the event showed Eilish stop the show and ask from the stage if the fan was OK, then direct her stage crew to get the fan an inhaler. The video was getting a lot of attention with followers saying it’s so refreshing to see an artist who cares about the welfare of her fans so much.
Later during the performance, Eilish took a thinly veiled shot at Scott. “I wait for people to be okay before I keep going,” she said, earning loud cheers from concertgoers.
This likely referenced the Astroworld tragedy which resulted in the death of ten people and serious injuries to dozens more. It happened when a crowd of fans surged toward the stage during Scott’s performance. Fans there were squeezed together so tightly that they could neither breathe nor move their arms. Victims ranged from ages nine to 27.
Critics blamed Scott for making the situation worse by continuing his set even as chaos ensued. The rapper has been called out for celebrating serious injuries at his shows before.
Scott hasn’t addressed Eilish’s diss. But Ye had some thoughts about it.
“COME ON BILLIE WE LOVE YOU PLEASE APOLOGIZE TO TRAV AND TO THE FAMILIES OF THE PEOPLE WHO LOST THEIR LIVES,” West wrote in the caption of an Instagram post.
“NO ONE INTENDED THIS TO HAPPEN TRAV DIDN’T HAVE ANY IDEA OF WHAT WAS HAPPENING WHEN HE WAS ON STAGE AND WAS VERY HURT BY WHAT HAPPENED,” he continued.
Kanye also said that Travis would be joining him onstage at Coachella. This claim runs counter to a report that Scott will not be part of the lineup due to the Astroworld tragedy and fallout.
“YES TRAV WILL BE WITH ME AT COACHELLA BUT NOW I NEED BILLIE TO APOLOGIZE BEFORE I PERFORM,” Ye said in conclusion on Instagram.
A Change.org petition was started in the days after the tragedy demanding that Scott be removed from the Coachella lineup. The petition has 65,000 signatures as of right now.
Besides Eilish and West, Harry Styles and Swedish House Mafia are scheduled to perform at Coachella. The sold out show has been rescheduled multiple times due to ongoing pandemic concerns.
For now, the music festival is expected to happen in April at its usual spot in Indio, California, with West, Eilish, and Styles headlining and Scott not participating. But drama like this public feud may put the whole thing in jeopardy.