Two concerts in Russia by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, have officially been cancelled after weeks of uncertainty.

West had been scheduled to perform at the Gazprom Arena in St Petersburg on 10 and 11 October.

However, there had been confusion over whether the concerts would take place after the stadium said it would not host the rapper for what would have been the biggest performance by a Western artist in Russia since the country invaded Ukraine in 2022.

In a post on the messaging app Telegram, concert organisers Say Agency confirmed the shows had been cancelled with “sincere regret”.

“The Ye concerts in St Petersburg will not be able to take place on the scheduled dates,” the Moscow-based agency said.

“We will issue an official statement regarding the status of the project and our plans in the near future.”

Gazprom Arena said in August that it had not signed a rental agreement with the concert promoters, meaning the concerts could not take place at the venue.

Say Agency had previously said it was working to resolve the issue with the stadium before confirming that the shows could not go ahead.

The stadium also acknowledged that it had received complaints about West’s planned performance.

West has recently apologised for a series of antisemitic and pro-Nazi comments he made in the past, saying he had “lost touch with reality” as a result of his bipolar disorder.

Taylor Swift has become the most successful artist in the history of the MTV Video Music Awards after winning the video of the year award on Sunday.

The singer entered the ceremony tied with Beyoncé on 30 VMA wins but moved ahead after taking home the night’s top prize for the visuals for her track The Fate of Ophelia.

The song is taken from her 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl.

The original Queen of Pop, Madonna, won artist of the year, best dance and best collaboration alongside Sabrina Carpenter for their dancefloor-filler Bring Your Love.

The song was the lead single from Madonna’s 2026 album Confessions II.

Swift also received the inaugural artist director award after writing and directing the Ophelia music video herself.

She dedicated the new award to the “ultimate showgirl”, saying: “I think we were all very lucky to share this planet with Dolly Parton for a time.”

The 36-year-old also debuted the music video for her new song Patient Zero, starring actors Colin Farrell and Dakota Johnson, during the Los Angeles ceremony hosted by rapper Snoop Dogg.

The dark gothic thriller is Swift’s first music video since she married NFL player Travis Kelce.

The song is one of four new tracks featured on The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore, which was released last week.

US sports owner Robert Kraft says Ed Sheeran asked him to commit $2m (£1.5m) towards humanitarian aid in the region following a backlash over rapper Macklemore’s removal from the singer’s US tour.

Kraft, who owns the New England Patriots, said Sheeran contacted him before Macklemore publicly challenged him to match a $1m (£750,000) donation to Palestinian organisations.

“Earlier today, before Macklemore challenged me to match his donation, Ed called me and asked me to commit $2 million to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis,” Kraft wrote on Wednesday.

“Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners and our goal is to continue to work together to build bridges.”

Kraft did not confirm whether he had agreed to make the $2m donation or where the money would be directed. Sheeran has also not publicly confirmed making a $2m donation or outlined any related philanthropic plans.

Kraft’s comments came in his second statement this week on the controversy surrounding Sheeran’s US tour.

On Monday, he confirmed that Macklemore would not be allowed to perform at Gillette Stadium near Boston, which Kraft owns.

Kraft, who is Jewish, accused the US rapper of hate speech following two performances as Sheeran’s support act in which Macklemore called for a “free Palestine”, referred to the conflict in Gaza as “genocide” and displayed images of devastation in the territory.

Macklemore has also said that criticism of Israel was not intended as criticism of “my Jewish brothers and sisters”.

In his latest statement, issued by Gillette Stadium on his behalf, Kraft said he wanted those supporting Palestinians to know that he had “supported efforts that create opportunity for Palestinians”.

He said he had also worked to bring “young Palestinians and Israelis together to build businesses, create jobs, and forge relationships”.

“I have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people,” Kraft said. “I believe deeply that all lives are worth protecting.”

Kraft did not say whether he had encouraged other stadium owners to prevent Macklemore from performing at their venues, as the rapper has claimed.