Kanye West continues to test the strength of “cancel culture” with his DONDA rollout.
Billboard reports Ye profited $12 million from hosting three listening events for the album that never saw the light of day.
At least 42,000 fans attended the sold-out first event at the Mercedes Benz Stadium. Each general audience member paid between $25 and $100 for a ticket.
Two weeks later, the Yeezus rapper hosted a second listening event after moving into the arena and previewed another rough cut of the album.
Kanye reportedly earned $7 million from in-person merchandise sales and topped his own Apple Music streaming record with 5.4 million viewers.
The third listening event for his yet-to-be-released album was in Chicago and featured a replica of his childhood home in the middle of Chicago’s Soldier Field.
The rapper sparked controversy by inviting Marilyn Manson on stage with him, who faces accusations and lawsuits from several women alleging sexual assault and abuse. A representative for Manson told NBC News Friday that his voice is featured on Donda, “and he will continue to conceptually collaborate with Ye on the Donda project.”
DaBaby was invited to the same stage but fans didn’t seem too happy about him replacing JAY-Z’s verse in the original version of the album we all heard. “carti verse cut on Junya and dababy replacing Hov bro im buying a stem player and fixing this album,” one user tweeted.
carti verse cut on Junya and dababy replacing Hov bro im buying a stem player and fixing this album
— hk (@henocksileshi) August 27, 2021
*Kanye West Replaces Jay-Z With DaBaby*
Me:
#DONDA pic.twitter.com/O9Hl8WhyQM— 𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖎𝖑𝖘𝖔𝖓🥀 (@saintjoseluis) August 27, 2021
But the icing on the cake was Kim Kardashian’s appearance in a white Balenciaga Haute Couture wedding dress and veil amid the couple’s divorce.
This sparked reconciliation rumors but Page Six reports that West just wanted her to partake in his “performance art.”
They’ve always supported each other’s endeavors and have always collaborated and will continue to do so,” a source said. “Kim was happy to do it and will always support Kanye.”
Kanye is reportedly scheduled to release DONDA on September 3rd, the same day Drake announced that he’s dropping Certified Lover Boy who is recently reignited beef with. Who do you think will deliver the better project?
