Grammy-winning Afrobeats star Burna Boy’s ‘No Sign of Weakness’ tour in the United States and Canada has hit a major snag, with the abrupt cancellation of shows in multiple cities.
Ticketmaster, the primary ticketing platform, listed “low ticket sales” as the reason for cancelling Burna Boy’s scheduled performance in Minneapolis and Chicago, but some industry experts claim the move follows a massive public relations crisis stemming from an incident at the Nigerian artist’s recent concert in Denver city.
The controversy ignited when Burna Boy stopped his performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in November to publicly eject a woman from the audience after she was seen sleeping.
It was later revealed that the woman was grieving a personal loss, and fans became more upset when the artist declared, during an Instagram Live session, that he was “only looking for fans who have money.”
Burna Boy is not new to controversies stemming from his on-stage conduct.
Social media firestorm
In the past, he kicked a star-struck fan offstage for attempting to hug him, and in another incident removed an audience member for failing to dance.
The latest incident in Denver has fuelled scrutiny for him, with a social media firestorm erupting and some fans cancelling their tickets in protest.
