The Meadows Music & Arts Festival was to be a two-day event the first weekend in October in Queens, New York, with acts including Pusha T, Mac Miller, Empire of the Sun, Bryson Tiller, and more. But in its very first go-round, things didn’t quite go as planned. First, Saturday’s original headliner, The Weeknd, cancelled his appearance due to scheduling conflicts. Then Sunday’s headliner Kanye West stopped abruptly in the middle of his set and left the venue.
Kanye came out amid fireworks at about 8:45 p.m. on October 2, bringing his Saint Pablo Tour to The Meadows. He delivered hits from all of his albums and even some of his guest verses, before starting “Heartless” at approximately 9:40 p.m. But before he could get to the first verse Kanye said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I have to stop the show. Family emergency.” With that, he ran offstage and the fest came to a close. CNN reported it was because his wife, Kim Kardashian West, was held up at gunpoint by masked men dressed as police officers at her hotel in Paris. Kardashian West and other family members had been attending Paris Fashion Week.
According to a spokesperson, Kardashian West “is badly shaken but physically unharmed.” The Meadows organizers released the following statement via Twitter: