Kanye West’s comeback show in Los Angeles took an awkward turn when the rapper started berating and swearing at his team for the lighting while he was on stage.
The controversial 48-year-old performed to a 70,000-strong audience at the city’s SoFi Stadium on Wednesday night after dropping his new album Bully.
It marked his first time performing in LA – or as a headliner in the US – in five years, and he also treated fans in attendance to some of his biggest hits from the past.
But during his 2007 song Good Life, the production hit a snag when Ye began to lash out at the production crew, criticising the lighting choices, and interrupting his own performance.
In footage obtained by TMZ, he can be seen and heard complaining about how the lighting effects clash with the atmosphere he wanted, halting the show multiple times.
‘Stop it, stop it, stop it,’ he snapped. ‘Yo, I don’t like when the lights move like that, like disco s**t. They don’t go with the stage, don’t do that, stop doing that.’
After briefly apologising to the audience, things started up briefly before Ye almost immediately called for a stop again, sounding more annoyed as he added: ‘You see that, when it does that? Don’t do that. That s**t’s corny, yo.’
Having gotten a little bit further into the song the third time, Ye still spoke into the microphone again, directly addressing the crew again as he sarcastically asked: ‘What is this, an SNL skit or some s**t?’
With further cursing bleeped out, he then added: ‘Stop doing the vibrating Vegas lights, bro. We went over this in rehearsal.’
It then appeared that the fourth time was the charm, as the concert continued to fans’ cheers, with Ye bringing out some surprise special guests including Don Toliver and his 12-year-old daughter, North West, who performed Talking as well as her own original song.
Ye’s comeback comes after a turbulent time in recent years for the artist, who has displayed erratic behaviour and made deeply offensive antisemitic comments, as well as participating in hate speech, including praising Adolf Hitler and selling t-shirts emblazoned with a swastika, a notorious Nazi hate symbol.
The All of the Lights hitmaker has also been announced as headliner for Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park this summer, performing across three separate nights on July 10-12.
Following backlash to the booking London Mayor Sadiq Khan has since confirmed he wasn’t ‘involved in’ booking Kanye Ye for the event, with a spokesperson telling Complex: ‘We are clear that the past comments and actions of this artist are offensive and wrong, and are simply not reflective of London’s values.
‘This was a decision taken by the festival organizers and not one that City Hall is involved in.’
The UK’s Jewish Leadership Council has also branded Wireless Festival’s decision to book Kanye as ‘deeply irresponsible’.
He had also released a single in 2025 called Heil Hitler, which includes a length sample from a 1936 Hitler speech; it was subsequently banned from all major digital streaming platforms in Germany while Austria cancelled the musician’s travel visa.
Earlier this year, Kanye took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal newspaper, apologising to both the Jewish and Black communities, and seemingly admitting regret over his antisemitic and problematic behaviour.
However, that hasn’t stopped the rapper using some very typical Ye lyrics on his new album, claiming: ‘I wanna beat somebody up like a bully.’
Printed in The Wall Street Journal in January, Kanye;s statement said that his bipolar disorder made him feel ‘powerful, certain, [and] unstoppable’ and led him to ‘lose touch with reality’ in recent years, but he ‘ignored the problem’.
Referring to the words and actions that generated huge backlash, he added: ‘I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst. You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to have someone who was, at times, unrecognisable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self.’
Kanye went on to address selling T-shirts emblazoned with swastikas and apologised to the Black community for ‘letting [them] down’.
‘I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though,’ he said, adding that wife Bianca Censori – whom he married in 2022 following his divorce from Kim Kardashian, mother to his four children – had encouraged him to seek help.
Kanye and Bianca have consistently made headlines as she frequently steps out wearing very little, while Ye remains fully clothed, which has sparked concern about the power dynamic between them.
He and the model were also reported to have split early last year before getting back together, as sources claimed Bianca had been ‘pushed to the limit’ with his online rants and disturbing behaviour.
Metro has contacted reps for Kanye West for comment.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.