American rapper Lil Wayne to not perform at the British music festival – taking place this weekend – after he was denied entry into the United Kingdom.
The five-time Grammy-winning rapper was scheduled to rock the stage at the ‘Strawberries & Creem festival’ on Saturday, however, has now been replaced by another U.S. rapper, three-time Grammy-winner, Ludacris, as announced by the organizers of the British music festival on social media.
“Due to extreme circumstances beyond our control or influence, we are very sorry to inform you that Lil Wayne is now unable to perform at the festival on Saturday 18th June,” read the statement shared on Wednesday.
“Lil Wayne has been refused entry to the UK directly by the Home Office in a last-minute decision. We are deeply disappointed by this sudden and negative ruling. We have received very minimal notice, and the timing of the decision is of course upsetting for all involved,” they further informed. “We have received very minimal notice, and the timing of the decision is of course upsetting for all involved – including Lil Wayne’s fans, as well as the festival team.”
“We have brought in Grammy-winning rapper LUDACRIS to play a UK EXCLUSIVE set on Saturday 18th June,” the statement further mentioned adding that the rapper will be joined by “Tion Wayne, Mabel, Wilkinson, special guests and more on Saturday” and “Tems, Knucks, David Rodigan and more on Sunday”.
Speaking about the reason for the move by the Home Office, a spokesperson stated, “Any individual who has been sentenced to a custodial sentence of 12 months or more must have their application refused.”
For those unversed, Lil Wayne served eight months of a one-year sentence at New York’s ‘Rikers Island prison’ stemming from a 2007 gun possession charge, and was pardoned last year by then-president Donald Trump on his last day in office, after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a loaded, gold-plated handgun when his chartered jet landed in Miami in December 2019.
He had faced a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
It is pertinent to mention that the performance would have been the first UK performance of Lil Wayne in 14 years, according to the festival.
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