Mayhem ensued outside of Webster Hall after thousands of fans flocked to the venue for Kanye West’s secret concert early at around 2 AM Monday morning.
West planned the show at the last minute, after he was unable to perform at the Governors Ball music festival due to rain. West’s creative director Virgil Abloh wrote, then deleted, a post on social media telling fans to be at Webster Hall at 2 AM. Before midnight, 2 Chainz posted on his Snapchat to confirm West’s secret show.
Minutes after the social media activity, thousands of fans arrived outside the venue, climbing on cars and scaffolding, clogging the streets. After the show was sold out, fans still showed up. There were reports of people being pepper sprayed. Due to the chaos, the event was cancelled and police officers had to perform extensive crowd-control. West was heard on Kim Kardashian’s Snapchat asking Mayor Bill de Blasio to “close down the block” in order to get a block party going.
The New York Police Department said one person was arrested for disorderly conduct, but there were no reports of serious injuries. Images and videos of the crowd appeared on social media. Although West did not perform, he made an appearance outside of Webster Hall, hanging out of the sunroof of his car as fans went crazy.
NYPD officers begged people, “Please go home. There’s nobody here.” Later on, rumors of a West pop-up show at Trump SoHo circulated, causing about 100 fans to wait outside. West never arrived.
