Coachella organizers reportedly tried to crack down on The Weeknd after intervening to replace Kanye West as Sunday’s headliner at the festival later this month. We were told that the singer threatened to leave if he was not paid the same amount as West, who was to earn $ 8 million plus a $ 500,000 production fee. Page Six had revealed exclusively that The Weeknd was the first to replace the rapper of “All of the Lights”, who stayed at the concert less than two weeks before the screening. Coachella organizers announced early Wednesday that The Weeknd, 32, and Swedish house Mafia’s super house band will take over the rapper’s slots on Sunday, April 17th and Sunday, April 24th. But a music source told us that the deal had not yet been completed for the “Blinding Lights” singer. The source said, “Weeknd came in shortly to take Kanye’s first place. But Phil Anschutz [who owns the Coachella Festival through AEG Live] wanted to keep Kanye’s money and pay The Weeknd much less, just a few million. The festival would pocket the rest “. Weeknd asked him to get the same payday as Kanye West for his performance at Coachella. Getty threatened to leave the festival if he did not get the same deal.WireImage The trick led to painful negotiations this week between The Weeknd’s management and Anschutz’s Goldenvoice, the festival’s producer. The source continued, “Even after Coachella announced the new line-up on Wednesday, there was no deal for The Weeknd, who threatened to leave in an hour if he did not get the same deal with Kanye. “Finally, on Wednesday – faced with the prospect of a second front-end transaction leaving Coachella at the last minute – Anschutz’s company backed off and agreed to pay Weeknd the same amount.” Although Anschutz’s representatives did not comment, a second source said that the billionaire AEG tycoon was not personally handling the negotiations, but was being handled by an official. A spokesman for The Weeknd did not respond to a request for comment and Kanye’s spokesman did not respond. Earlier this week, Page Six exclusively reported that Kanye vouched for the show less than two weeks before the show because he “wanted help” after publicly dragging his ex-wife Kim Kardashian and boyfriend Pete Davidson to social media. networking – something that led to a 24-hour suspension on Instagram and the removal of his Grammy performance. West left a few weeks before the California Festival, which lasted two weekends. Getty Images for Coachella “Kanye has definitely left Coachella,” an insider told us on Monday. “He has not rehearsed or produced.” Our source confirmed that Travis Scott, who has two children with Kylie Jenner, “is supposed to join [West] in the tent.” “It would be almost impossible for him to combine it now. “Look for The Weeknd to replace him,” said our source, adding: “Kanye is backing down because he wants to stay out of the limelight after all the drama with Kim and Pete. he wants help. “ Sources told us that West, who has four children with the SKIMS tycoon, promised not to make “public appearances or incendiary statements on social media” as long as he “moves away” becomes “better”. Kardashian and West were legally released in March amid their ongoing divorce. A spokesman for the Grammy winner told Page Six at the time, “Ye is committed to a healthy working relationship with Kim and is focused on raising their beautiful children.”
