Mayrhofen, Austria (CelebrityAccess) — British Grime rapper Stormzy pulled out of a performance at the Snowbombing Festival after members of his team, including his manager, was subjected to a weapons search.
In an Instagram post, Stormzy said members of his team were “racially profile[d], targeted and aggressively handled” by festival staff even though none of them matched the description of an individual suspected to be carrying a weapon at the event.
Stormzy also apologized to his fans for the last minute cancellation, writing: “Again, deeply sorry to everyone who came but I need you to understand why this is necessary in the grand scheme of trying to fight back against racism.”
In a separate statement, the festival confirmed that he’d canceled his performance and that members of his team had been subjected to a search.
“Snowbombing regrets to inform you that Stormzy will no longer be performing at the festival this evening. Last night (Wednesday 10th) Snowbombing’s security were alerted to the possibility that an individual at the festival was allegedly carrying a weapon. In accordance with protocol, a small number of attendees, including Stormzy’s manager were escorted to the nearest exit, searched and no weapon was found. Stormzy’s management were unhappy with the manner by which this took place and as a result, Stormzy will no longer be performing tonight. This evening’s Forest Party will now not go ahead as planned. We are deeply saddened that any individual would feel uncomfortable at Snowbombing.”
Festival organizers also extended an apology to Stormzy, noting:
“Snowbombing would like to wholeheartedly apologise to Stormzy’s team. We are doing everything we can to understand the full situation and are treating this with the utmost seriousness to ensure this does not happen again.”
According to the BBC, Festivalgoers only learned about the cancellation a few hours before the performance was to start, and only then, via a festival app that cost attendees £3 to download.
The festival, which runs from April 8 – April 13, includes performances by Fatboy Slim, Andy C and Chase & Status, who replaced The Prodigy on the lineup following the death of Keith Flint.
