Despite taking Kanye West’s place as the Coachella headliner, The Weeknd has made it clear that he will walk away from the gig if he is not paid fairly.
The “Starboy” reportedly threatened to walk away from the headlining role if he was not given the same pay being offered to West. Coachella was originally paying the “Power” star $8 million plus an additional $500,000 production fee before he abruptly dropped out of the festival.
Page Six reported that although The Weeknd came through at the last minute, Phil Anschutz, who owns the Coachella Festival via AEG Live, wanted to pay him only “a few million,” far less than what Ye was being offered. The negotiations over fair compensation continued this week, even after The Weeknd was announced as the headliner. A source close to the matter revealed that the singer was prepared to pull out of the California concert “at the last minute” if he was not compensated fairly. This pressure caused Coachella to give in and meet The Weeknd’s demands.
In addition to The Weeknd, Swedish House Mafia will also be lending their house music catalog to the headlining position.
The Weeknd has not publicly commented on the dispute, and neither has Ye, whose last-minute departure left the festival scrambling.
