Prosecutors found no evidence of fraud in a review of Say Agency, which was organizing rapper Kanye West’s concerts in St. Petersburg.
Say Agency representative Alexander Panin said investigators “found no evidence of fraud because, in fact, there isn’t any.” The agency’s CEO and founder, Anna Subcheva, said law enforcement officers had received answers to all their questions and that “if I’m talking to you, that means they were satisfied with the answers.”
News of a police and prosecutorial inquiry into the organizers of West’s canceled concerts emerged in late September. The inquiry began after a St. Petersburg resident who had bought a ticket to a show filed a complaint.
Two West concerts at St. Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena were scheduled for October 10 and 11. The organizers said they had sold more than 100,000 tickets.
After the concerts were announced, lawmakers and pro-war activists began speaking out against the rapper’s visit to Russia. Even the Kremlin discussed whether the concerts should go ahead or be canceled.
In September, Gazprom Arena representatives said there was no agreement to rent the stadium for West’s concerts and that they would not take place. Announcements for the concerts in Russia later disappeared from the rapper’s website. Say Agency said in late September that the concerts were canceled.
After the cancellation, ticket buyers began demanding refunds from Say Agency, along with compensation for travel expenses and emotional distress. The agency began issuing refunds in October.
Read more
- Fans paid up to 160,000 rubles for Kanye West’s October concerts in Russia. Many are now asking how they can get a refund.
- Ye (Kanye West) sold 100,000 tickets to two St. Petersburg stadium shows in two days. Now a Russian lawmaker wants the concerts canceled unless he declares ‘moral support’ for the war on Ukraine.
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