Psy Agency, which organizes the concerts, announced the cancellation of two concerts by American rapper Kanye West in Russia, which were scheduled to be held this month.
West was scheduled to hold two concerts in St. Petersburg, but a week after announcing them in mid-August, the party that was supposed to host the event announced that it had not signed any contract with the organizers, who are from another Moscow-based company.
Since then, the fate of the two shows has remained unresolved, with no clear confirmation from the organizers about whether to go ahead or cancel them.
The Psy agency wrote on Telegram yesterday, Wednesday, saying: “My friends, we sincerely regret to inform you that (Kanye’s) concerts in St. Petersburg will not take place... We will issue an official statement regarding the status of the project and our upcoming plans in the near future,” according to what was reported by the “Reuters” news agency.
This year, West faced cancellation of concerts and restrictions on his performances in a number of European countries due to previous anti-Semitic statements that included praising Adolf Hitler and using images and symbols associated with Nazism.
Last January, West apologized for those comments, which he attributed to an undiagnosed brain injury and untreated bipolar disorder.
Plans to hold two Lost concerts in Russia sparked criticism from some pro-military and pro-war Russian bloggers, who questioned the appropriateness of hosting an American artist at a time when Washington continues to provide military and financial support to Ukraine.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized holding any concert for him in the country, describing the matter as unacceptable, basing this on what she described as West's "glorification" of Hitler.
Behind the muscular muscles and image that made him one of the most famous action heroes, Sylvester Stallone was fighting a different battle away from the cameras. The actor who portrayed the characters “Rocky Balboa” and “John Rambo,” the two undefeated heroes, revealed a side that most fans had not seen.
Stallone's obsession with maintaining a perfect body, his muscular structure, and a low percentage of fat for these heroic roles, exceeded the limits of training and discipline, turning into a troubled relationship with food, and his image of his body ended in bulimia.
Bulimia is an eating disorder that usually consists of recurring bouts of eating large amounts of food with a feeling of loss of control, followed by behaviors to eliminate calories or prevent weight gain, such as intentional vomiting, excessive exercise, fasting, or the use of laxatives.
Speaking to the New York Times, Stallone described how his focus on maintaining a slim, muscular body turned into an obsession.
“I became very obsessed with maintaining that level of fitness,” he said, describing what he went through as “a kind of obsessive body worship.” Over time, this obsession led to him developing an eating disorder. “It got to the point where I started suffering from bulimia,” Stallone explained.
Stallone's candor is especially important because it challenges a common assumption about who can develop eating disorders. Eating disorders are often viewed as conditions that primarily affect girls and women. This assumption has shaped decades of research and has led to men being underrepresented in scientific studies related to these disorders.
But more recent studies are beginning to provide a more comprehensive picture, and their numbers may be surprising. A 2025 study of 1,553 boys and men in Canada and the United States found that 21.3 percent met criteria for a possible diagnosis of an eating disorder, more than one in five participants.
One of the main answers lies in social stigma and the pressure associated with having to appear strong. A research review published in 2022 looked at the results of a number of qualitative studies that investigated the experience of men living with eating disorders.
Several crises and challenges surround the 34th session of the Arab Music Festival, whose activities are scheduled to be held from October 20 to 30, most notably the “apologies and criticisms,” the withdrawal of artists Mohamed Tharwat and Ali Al-Haggar, the announcement by the head of the Egyptian Opera House, which organizes the festival, that he will not continue in his position, and the difficulty of researchers participating in the “scientific conference,” which is held in conjunction with the concerts, due to “a weak budget.”
Dr. Reda El-Wakil, President of the Cairo Opera House, had confirmed in the press conference held on Wednesday that “weak budget” was the reason for not contracting with some artists.
The agent announced the details of the concerts, in the presence of a number of officials, including Maestro Mohamed Al-Mogy, director of the festival, pointing out that the festival includes 22 “singing nights,” with the participation of 70 Egyptian and Arab artists, in addition to discussing 35 research papers in the “scientific conference.”
According to the opera’s president, the artist Mohamed Tharwat was scheduled to perform at the opening ceremony, but he apologized for not participating suddenly, and wrote on his Facebook account: “I will not accept and will not participate in insulting Egyptian art or Egyptian artists.”
The 11 nights of the festival, dedicated to the spirit of the late artist Hani Shaker, will witness the participation of a number of singing stars, including Marwa Naji, Ahmed Gamal, Reham Abdel Hakim, Mohamed Mohsen, Khaled Selim, and musician Omar Khairat, while the closing ceremony will be performed by the artist Medhat Saleh. The concerts will also witness the participation of Egyptian opera artists and musical groups.
The Arab participants in this year's session are represented by the Lebanese artist Assi El-Hellani, who donated his salary to the Opera House, according to a statement by its president, the Lebanese artist Walaa El-Gendy, and from Jordan, Tariq Al-Faqih and Nidaa Sharara.
During the past hours, Dr. Reda Al-Wakil faced criticism from some specialists in the music field, commenting on his talk about the scenes of singing participations and the weak budget, including Maestro Hani Farhat, Walid Fayed, and Medhat Khamis, who stressed that “the festival needs to be reviewed.”
The artist Ali Al-Hajjar will be absent from the festival, for the first time since its launch. While the head of the opera confirmed that Al-Hajjar is always present at the artistic house’s activities, and that his absence is due to allowing other names to participate, Al-Hajjar confirmed that the reason is due to the adoption of a weak and humiliating budget for the members of his orchestra, according to what he published on his Facebook account.
Matters did not stop at Tharwat’s apology, Al-Hajjar’s clarification, and specialists’ criticism. Reda El-Wakil announced his apology for continuing the position of head of the Egyptian Opera House, which he assumed a few months ago, and wrote on his Facebook account: “I will not accept that anyone control my choices, and I will not be the cause of problems or hostility,” stressing that he remains an artist and a friend, following the controversy raised by his talk about the weak budget locally, compared to the participation of opera artists internationally.
Away from the controversy of apologies, criticisms and clarifications, the artist Medhat Saleh celebrated his performance at two concerts at the festival, one of which was the closing ceremony, and published the promotional poster for the two concerts on his Facebook account.
In turn, Maestro Dr. Muhammad Al-Moji, Director of the Festival and Conference, said that the next session of “Arabic Music” is dominated by the classical character and interest in operatic sounds.
Commenting on the controversy over the absence of some artists from participating in the festival, Muhammad Al-Muji confirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the festival’s management contacted several names, but they apologized for reasons that varied from different dates, a weak budget, and setting conditions.”
