--- title: Kanye West’s Surprise Show in New York Canceled After Mayhem description: A surprise Kanye West concert slated to take place at Webster Hall in New York City was canceled hours after its announcement early Monday. canonical: https://time.com/4358105/kanye-west-webster-hall-show/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-06T12:35:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:44:30.518Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Kanye West’s Surprise Show in New York Canceled After Mayhem og:description: "A mob of people were rushing the doors and jumping on cars" og:url: https://time.com/4358105/kanye-west-webster-hall-show/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt658f8e51b234e12e/69889684a988ca73806b81da/kanye-west-webster-hall.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2016 Hot 97 Summer Jam og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kanye West’s Surprise Show in New York Canceled After Mayhem twitter:description: "A mob of people were rushing the doors and jumping on cars" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt658f8e51b234e12e/69889684a988ca73806b81da/kanye-west-webster-hall.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kanye West’s Surprise Show in New York City Canceled After Mayhem  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jun 6, 2016 12:35 PM CUT  Kanye West performs at Hot 97's Summer Jam 2016 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, June 5, 2016. Kanye West performs at Hot 97's Summer Jam 2016 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, June 5, 2016.Johnny Nunez—WireImage  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jun 6, 2016 12:35 PM CUT A [surprise Kanye West concert](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/kanye-west-pop-up-show-turns-chaotic-mob-article-1.2662495 "undefined") slated to take place at Webster Hall in New York City was canceled hours after its announcement early Monday after thousands swarmed the historic music venue and clogged city streets. More than 4,000 people rushed to the show site about midnight after the hip-hop artist and his team hinted at an impromptu performance, which was supposed to make up for Sunday’s canceled Governor’s Ball music festival, the New York _Daily News_ reports. West arrived about 2 a.m., prompting mayhem. “A mob of people were rushing the doors and jumping on cars,” witness Danielle Jones told the newspaper. Webster Hall apparently shut down the sold-out show after the crowd grew too large and began spreading around the block, according to the _Daily News_. The venue did not immediately return requests for comment from TIME on Monday. It said “there is no late show at Webster Hall tonight” in a tweet but did not provide additional details. > [](https://twitter.com/WebsterHall/status/739694801180839936) > [](https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/739683751127568384) West’s creative director Virgil Abloh, who had teased fans on Instagram about a possible _The Life of Pablo_ performance in the works, later updated his social media post to say the show was canceled due to a “safety priority.” \[[_NYDN_](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/kanye-west-pop-up-show-turns-chaotic-mob-article-1.2662495 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4358105/kanye-west-webster-hall-show/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4358105/kanye-west-webster-hall-show/"},"headline":"Kanye West’s Surprise Show in New York City Canceled After Mayhem","datePublished":"2016-06-06T12:35:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:44:30.518Z","description":"West's creative director Virgil Abloh said the show was canceled due to a \"safety priority”","url":"https://time.com/4358105/kanye-west-webster-hall-show/","keywords":["celebrities","Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt658f8e51b234e12e/69889684a988ca73806b81da/kanye-west-webster-hall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt658f8e51b234e12e/69889684a988ca73806b81da/kanye-west-webster-hall.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 Hot 97 Summer Jam","caption":"Kanye West performs at Hot 97's Summer Jam 2016 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, June 5, 2016.","creditText":"Johnny Nunez—WireImage","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4358105/kanye-west-webster-hall-show/","name":"Kanye West’s Surprise Show in New York City Canceled After Mayhem"}}]}] ```