Why Lady Gaga Really Canceled “Fame” Tour With Kanye West [Exclusive]

Posted by Nathan S. on 10/02/09 | Filed under Features, Lady Gaga, Kanye West

Ever since it was announced yesterday that Lady Gaga was pulling out of her upcoming “Fame” tour with Kanye West the internet has been ablaze with theories, some going so far as to speculate that there’s some sort of personal beef between Lady Gaga and Kanye. Well, thanks to a source inside Lady Gaga’s camp, I’ve got the inside information on why Gaga really canceled. As Avon Barksdale would day, “It’s not personal, it’s business. It’s always just business.”

Before the Fame tour was even slated to begin Lady Gaga’s people were already nervous. If the tour worked it would be immensely profitable for both parties, with Kanye drawing a hip-hop crowd to Lady Gaga and Lady Gaga drawing a female pop crowd to Kanye. With their powers combined, both camps were hopeful the tour would sell out.

However, according to sources when it was decided that ticket prices would routinely be more than $100 dollars, Lady Gaga grew nervous. With a recession in full swing would people really pay that much? Then, TaylorGate happened and suddenly Kanye was more of a liability than a benefit. The bulk of the people who were likely to buy tickets, young middle class girls, were likely fans of both Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, and it seemed possible that they’d boycott the tour entirely.

Early indications of ticket sales didn’t look good. Maybe it was the fallout from Kanye, or maybe the ticket prices were just too high in the first place. Either way the potential was strong that not only would Lady Gaga be playing to half-filled stadiums, but that the elaborately staged tour would lose large amounts of money (money that Lady Gaga may have to pay). In the end it was decided that it was better to cut their loses now then deal with the potentially worse financial consequences later.

Fans only see the final onstage product, but behind the scenes an extraordinarily complex amount of financial negotiations take place between the artist, venues, merchandise vendors, promoters and many more. The vast majority of tour contracts have some sort of opt-out clause, with an artist able to cancel the tour for a variety of agreed upon reasons (serious illness, substandard conditions, etc.) without penalty. Lady Gaga’s camp will now try to argue that Kanye should primarily be responsible for paying any penalties, which Kanye’s lawyers will argue that he can’t be held directly responsible. Whatever the final outcome, millions of dollars are at stake.

If I can be pardoned the pun, it’s not a paparazzi worthy explanation, but it’s the real reason the tour was canceled. The music business is big business. As always, just follow the money and you’ll find the truth.

Read more: Features, Lady Gaga, Kanye West