We didn’t pay for that microphone toss
Taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for Kanye West’s headlining performance at the Pan Am Games closing ceremony, organizers said Monday.
And the head of the Games organizing committee isn’t sure whether the rapper’s mic problems and abrupt exit from the stage Sunday night were spontaneous or planned. Pan Am Games CEO Saad Rafi said performance fees for West and the two other artists — Canadian Serena Ryder and Miami pop-rapper Pitbull — were covered by the concert promotion company Live Nation.
The Games organizing committee only contributed to expenses such as backing bands, makeup artists and transporting artists’ equipment from the airport.
There was a fleeting outcry when West was announced as the headliner for the ceremony. Some questioned whether tax dollars should be spent on an American and often controversial artist.
The crowd roared its support for West at Sunday’s event, but many expressed confusion when he tossed an apparently faulty microphone up in the air and stomped offstage.
Rafi said West is known to do the unexpected and “we may never know” whether his departure was staged.