Future and Lil Yachty Cancel Charlottesville Concert ‘Out of Respect’ For Protest Victims
A Future and Lil Yachty concert in Charlottesville has been cancelled in the aftermath of deadly protests by white supremacists and Neo-Nazis over the weekend.
A Future and Lil Yachty concert in Charlottesville has been cancelled in the aftermath of deadly protests by white supremacists and Neo-Nazis over the weekend.
“Out of respect for the tragic events I felt it wasn’t rite to perform at this time,” Future wrote on Twitter, announcing the cancelation for the concert at John Paul Jones Arena. “Please understand my heart mean well VA,” he wrote, referencing the state abbreviation for Virginia, before writing “that state is important to me & always will be. I’m comin very soon,my word!”
Future and Lil Yachty were booked to play a welcome back concert at the arena on Saturday (Aug. 19) for students of the University of Virginia, who officially return for classes on Tuesday (Aug, 22). The concert was a part of the University Programs Council’s Welcome Week activities.
The city is still recovering from a march by white supremacists on campus and a day of violent clashes tied to protests by right-wing extremists opposing an effort to remove a Confederate statute. Three people were killed during the violent demonstrations — a counter-demonstrator was ran over in a deliberate car attack, and later, two police officers died when their patrol helicopter crashed.
Shortly after the cancellation announcement Thursday (Aug. 17), a social media campaign launched with the hashtag #giveUVAaCHANCE to encourage artist Chance the Rapper to come to the UVA as a replacement. Chance has not yet responded.