Kanye West makes surprise visit to Moscow – but won’t be performing
Kanye West, the rap music star, has made a surprise visit to Russia where he was mobbed by fans and seen shopping in Moscow.
The 47-year-old American, who has praised Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, in the past, was filmed walking with an entourage in baggy white trousers and a white hoodie.
He was not thought to be in Russia to perform but to celebrate the 40th birthday of Gosha Rubchinskiy, a Russian fashion designer.
“Hello, Moscow,” he wrote in Russian, at midday local time on Sunday on the VKontakte website, Russia’s state-monitored answer to Facebook.
Videos shot by fans on their mobile phones showed West striding through a Moscow underpass, walking across a hotel lobby, shopping in the upmarket Gum mall and admiring Red Square from a viewing station.
He was reportedly staying at the Four Seasons Hotel, next to the Kremlin in the centre of Moscow, where the 212sqm presidential suite costs around £10,000 a night and comes with an en-suite sauna and a “luxurious marble bathroom”.
Most Western celebrities distanced themselves from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine – but the music star is no stranger to controversy.
In 2022, Adidas dropped a partnership deal with West after he praised Adolf Hitler and denied the Holocaust. The rapper is also a supporter of Donald Trump and has also previously said that he was “pro-Putin”.
None of that seemed to bother fans as they rushed to catch a glimpse of one of the world’s biggest-selling artists.
Russian social media channels quickly filled with people begging West to extend his visit to Russia’s regions. “Please come to Perm,” said one Russian social media user. Another said: “Kanye, are you planning a concert in Kaluga?”
Rumours had been circulating for weeks that West would come to Moscow and perform – although hopes of a live show have now been dashed.
Of the few other Western celebrities who have sided with the Kremlin over its conflict with Ukraine, perhaps the highest profile is Steven Seagal, the martial arts film star who now lives in Moscow and has been given a state award by Putin.
Gerard Depardieu, the French actor, awarded Russian citizenship in 2013, also praised Putin and said his political opponents offer no real alternative.
Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News presenter, travelled to Moscow in February to interview Putin. Critics said it was a soft interview that pandered to Putin’s anti-West worldview.
