The Weeknd has a message for those running Coachella: pay up or kiss his performance goodbye.
On the heels of Kanye West bailing on the highly anticipated 2022 Coachella Festival, The Weeknd was brought on as a replacement headliner. The matter was announced just yesterday, and the singer will be joined onstage by Swedish House Mafia.
While the Toronto-born singer definitely saved the day, he added an important stipulation to the matter: getting paid the exact same amount as Kanye was slated to make. Specifically, Kanye West was set to bring in $8 million, on top of a $500,000 production fee.
“The Weeknd came in at short notice to take Kanye’s top spot. But Phil Anschutz [owner of the Coachella Festival through AEG Live] wanted to hold on to Kanye’s money and pay The Weeknd far less, just a few million. The festival would pocket the rest,” a source said.
“Even after Coachella announced the new lineup on Wednesday, a deal wasn’t in place for The Weeknd, who threatened to pull out at an hour’s notice if he didn’t get the same deal as Kanye,” the source added.
REPORT: The Weeknd threatens to pull out of Coachella if he doesn’t get Kanye West’s $8.5 million paycheckhttps://t.co/sHBJfVUvNS
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) April 7, 2022
Resultingly, The Weeknd‘s management team held negotiations with Anschutz, and the singer was allegedly promised the $8.5M check.
“Finally, on Wednesday—faced with the prospect of a second headline act pulling out of Coachella at the last minute—Anschutz’s company caved and agreed to pay The Weeknd the same money,” the source revealed.
In case the Coachella team thought The Weeknd was bluffing, he has a history of boycotting major gigs if they don’t meet his expectations.
Last March, The Weeknd announced that he would permanently boycott the Grammy’s after he didn’t receive any nominations. He carried this boycott into 2022, despite the fact that he recently won a Grammy for his contribution to “Hurricane” by Kanye West.
