Kanye West tour: Fans chant for refund and say they ‘could have just played your music at home’
Kanye West fans turned against their music hero - chanting for a refund and accusing him of lip-synching at the latest concert in his world tour.
The controversial rapper took to the stage at Shanghai Stadium on Saturday night and was not only reported by The Global Times to be significantly delayed getting onstage, but his set was plagued by technical difficulties, with some fans even taking to social media to complain about the lack of production. A clip has gone viral online of the moment the 70,000-strong crowd erupted and demanded a refund.
One fan also accused him of lip syncing. They wrote on X: "Mostly lip synching. His microphone must have been up less than 20 per cent of the time." The same user, with the username @Fabian_Lemuel, also claimed Kanye left the stage for 20 minutes during the encore as his music played over the sound system. The disappointed gig-goer wrote: "For the encore, he disappeared for over 20 minutes at one point as tracks like Wolves just played out with him nowhere in sight. I could have just played your music at home man. Came to see u perform???? (sic)"
The concert marked Kanye's first since September 2024. It also came days after he was accused of sexual assault and "oral rape" by his former assistant. The Stronger hitmaker was first sued by Lauren Pisciotta - who worked for the rapper from 2021 until she was fired the following year - in 2024 for sexual harassment, when she claimed he had sent her explicit texts and pornographic videos, photos and calls, and she followed up and filed a second amended complaint which alleged assault, sexual battery and other allegations.
In a complaint obtained by People magazine, the woman accused Kanye of serious sexual assault. Lauren alleged the 48-year-old star tried to kiss her multiple times without her consent before succeeding once during a trip to San Francisco in 2021, and she made claims about another work trip after Kanye bombarded her with intimate questions.
The complaint went on to allege the Bound 2 rapper - who is married to Bianca Censori and has four children with ex-wife Kim Kardashian - exposed himself to his then-employee before pushing her onto the bed and pinning her down.
When Lauren filed her lawsuit last year, Kanye's legal representative denied the allegations and accused her of "blackmail and extortion" with the "baseless" claims. Kanye has only played a handful of gigs in recent years and has lost brand deals and been dropped by huge names since making a series of anti-Semitic outbursts.