Arts & Entertainment

The Weeknd, Swedish House Mafia To Step In For Kanye West At Coachella

The newly announced headliners (April 17, 24) will appear with top-liners Harry Styles (April 15, 22) and Billie Eilish (April 16, 23).

The Weeknd (center) smiles while attending the NFL Super Bowl 56 football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif.
The Weeknd (center) smiles while attending the NFL Super Bowl 56 football game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano)

INDIO, CA — It didn't take long to replace Kanye West in the 2022 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival lineup. After the headliner announced Monday that he was dropping out of the show, on Wednesday concert organizers said The Weeknd and Swedish House Mafia have stepped up to fill the top slot.

The newly announced performers (April 17, 24) will appear with top-liners Harry Styles (April 15, 22) and Billie Eilish (April 16, 23), according to event organizer Goldenvoice.

A Change.org petition called for West — now known as Ye — to be removed from the festival lineup in light of his reported behavior toward ex-wife Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend, Pete Davidson. The petition garnered more than 49,000 signatures as of Wednesday morning.

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"We have watched Kanye harass, manipulate, and hurt Kim, Pete, and others for over a year now," the petition claims. "No one seems to want to stand up to him, and the ones that do, he puts under fire as well. Most recently, he has been threatening actual bodily harm on others. This is ridiculous that he is allowed to freely do this. Coachella (along with other brand names that are still working with him) should be ashamed of themselves and should not be giving him any more of a platform."

For his part, West had threatened to pull out of Coachella if fellow performer Eilish did not apologize to rapper Travis Scott — whom West planned to bring out on stage during his set; West alleged Eilish “dissed” Scott in a since-deleted Feb. 10 Instagram post, according to Billboard.

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It's speculated that Eilish was criticizing Scott for events that unfolded Nov. 5 at the 2021 Astroworld Festival at NRG Park in Houston, Texas. A fatal crowd-crush occurred during that first night of the festival. Eight people died that night and two more died in the hospital over the following days. The event was founded by Scott.

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