An AI-generated video of American rapper Kanye West singing the famous “Sedaya Noch” (Grey Night) recently went viral on Instagram. Shortly thereafter, news broke that Kanye would be performing in Tbilisi. The irony lies in the fact that the group “Laskovyi Mai” (Tender May), having stood up for Putin, once vowed never to perform in Georgia. Who knows—perhaps the hype surrounding Ye’s performance in the Georgian capital was fueled, among other things, by this AI creation trending on social media.
Ticket sales for the concert scheduled for June 12 in Tbilisi have broken records. Tickets, priced between $100 and $600, sold out within hours. Meanwhile, the star’s first tour in five years has faced stiff resistance in Europe.
Just recently, the Dutch Parliament demanded that West be banned from entering the country, jeopardizing his show scheduled for June 6. In April, the artist’s concert was canceled in Poland—the Minister of Culture called his arrival “unacceptable”—and a performance in Switzerland also fell through.
The UK government has officially banned Kanye from entering the country altogether. Ye was set to headline the Wireless Festival in London. However, following the announcement, organizers first lost their sponsors and were eventually forced to cancel the three-day July event.
The grievances against the star stem from his antisemitic outbursts. In 2025, Kanye released a song titled “Heil Hitler,” sold swastika-branded T-shirts on his website, and generally did not mince words. The rapper later blamed everything on bipolar disorder, but he has yet to successfully rehabilitate his image.
As for Georgia, public concerns here are less about Kanye himself. The performer’s concert will take place as part of “Starring Georgia,” a massive state-run campaign that brings top-tier stars to the country and is subsidized by the national budget. Critics emphasize that millions from taxpayers’ pockets could be spent on far more pressing issues—such as aid for socially vulnerable groups or treatment for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
