Nicki Minaj Postpones Tour After the 'Most Disappointing Ticket Sales of the Year For Any Artist'

By Bobby Finger  |  August 22, 2018 | 1:20pm
CelebritiesDirt Bag

I love tour drama, mostly because it’s typically just insider tour sources arguing (via the tabloids) with celebrities who will understandably never admit their live shows aren’t selling well and instead using an excuse from a bucket containing lines like “I want to make the best show for y’all,” “I’m exhausted,” and—ok, actually, it’s usually just one of those. I also love tour drama because, almost without fail, the previously disastrous tour ends up selling just fine. Look at the Witness World Tour! Look at the Reputation World Tour! Both were rumored to be selling poorly at first, and both went on to be financial successes.

But enough of that intro. (Why am I trying to cushion this blow?) Nicki Minaj’s upcoming Queen tour—originally scheduled to begin next month in North America—was reportedly selling so terribly that it was canceled. More accurately, it was postponed? (I don’t know why E!’s using the word “cancelled.”) Instead, “the outing will now kick off in Europe this coming February as planned” and the North American dates will begin in May (an 8-month delay).

In a video uploaded to Twitter, Minaj happily explained the entire situation away, saying:

THEY NEED RAPPERS LIKE ME
THEY NEED RAPPERS LIKE ME

Oh, I must be confused, she actually said:

“This is all happening because i pushed my album back two months… I just finished writing and recording literally hours before the album came out, so now I simply don’t have the time to rehearse… and give you guys the level of the show you deserve… I really apologize, but it’ll be worth it.”

But a “Live Nation source” who spoke to Page Six had a different story:

A Live Nation source told us, “Nicki’s tour could be the most disappointing ticket sales of the year for any artist. These are big arenas with up to 20,000 capacities. Sales for opening night in Baltimore is 2,000 tickets. LA is 3,400, New Orleans 1,000, Denver 1,300, Chicago 3,900. Even her hometown Brooklyn is only 5,050.”

She’ll be fine.

[E! Online / Page Six]

Related:

[THR]

Justin Bobby is already starting shit over the Hills reboot. Per TMZ:

Justin “Bobby” Brescia is thrilled to be working with a smaller cast on “The Hills” reboot … ‘cause he says Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari killed the good vibes on the original MTV series.
[…]
Justin tells us … there were “s****y people” involved in the original show, which ran for 6 seasons from 2006-10 … and says the new cast is way better.

[TMZ]