Cambridge, United Kingdom (UK)- Organizers of the Strawberries & Creem (S&C) festival which is scheduled to take place this weekend at the Childerley Orchard have announced that Lil Wayne will not be performing at the event.
The organizers cited that the Home Office had refused his visa application and had now replaced him with Ludacris.
In a statement on Wednesday, the UK Home Office said, “Any individual who has been sentenced to a custodial sentence of 12 months or more must have their application refused.”
The 39-year-old, five-time Grammy award winner, a convicted felon, admitted to a weapons charge in December 2020 and was facing up to 10 years in jail before Donald Trump pardoned him during his final hours as President.
“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. 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 including Lil Wayne’s fans, as well as the festival team.
(However), we have brought in Grammy-winning rapper, Ludacris, to play a UK-exclusive set on Saturday 18th June. He joins Tion Wayne, Mabel, Wilkinson, special guests and more on Saturday with Terms, Knucks, David Rodigan and more on Sunday.
Additionally, the team would also like to offer ticket holders a free ticket for Sunday 19th June, or a discount on tickets for next year’s festival. In absence of any statement from Lil Wayne, we would like to apologize to everyone who was coming to see him perform at S&C. We look forward to welcoming the iconic Ludcacris to the stage instead,” read a statement from the organizers.
