Many people are still coming down from the high that was provided at this year’s Coachella festival. Performances by Doja Cat, The Weeknd, Harry Styles, Baby Keem, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Lil Baby, Megan Thee Stallion, and many more proved to be highlights by the end of the festival’s two weekends. With that being said, there was one name that did not take the stage at Coachella contrary to the expectations of many. That person was Kanye West as he was set to headline the festival’s third day on the respective weekends. However, he dropped out at the last second leaving the showcase to scramble for a replacement which ended up being The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia.
In a new interview with the LA Times, Coachella’s co-founder Paul Tollett spoke about Kanye’s last-second exit and how he felt about it. “I Zoomed with him a couple days prior, and I think it was a good decision for him,” he said. Luckily for Tollett and the rest of Coachella, The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia’s manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby reached out to him to see what he needed for a replacement.
“Abel [Tesfaye] and Sal called and said, ‘What do you need?’” Tollett said. “I said, ‘I actually don’t know yet. Right now I’m a little stunned with Kanye leaving. I’ve got to think what to do here.’” Thankfully, the lineup change worked itself out in a couple of days as The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia stepped into the spot that Kanye West left open.
You can check out Tollett’s full interview with the LA Times here.
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.