Ice Spice Faces Backlash for Disrespectful Brisbane Festival Performance

US rapper Ice Spice has been heavily criticized by Australian music fans after a brief and late performance at the Wildlands festival in Brisbane on New Year’s Eve. The rapper, who was one of the three headliners for the event, started her set 25 minutes late and only performed two songs before leaving the stage.

Ice Spice was scheduled to perform a 30-minute set starting at 10:30pm, with British duo Chase & Status following her for a one-hour performance at 11:30pm. However, the rapper did not take the stage until 10:55pm and performed only two songs before abruptly leaving. The short set left fans disappointed, especially after waiting for nearly an hour to secure a spot in the crowd.

Brenton Larney, a Gold Coast music podcaster who was in attendance, described the crowd’s reaction as a collective sigh of disbelief when the rapper’s mic was cut after just six minutes. “It was really disrespectful how she walked off… she just shrugged off the flowers they tried to give her for her birthday,” Larney said, adding that Ice Spice seemed uninterested in performing.

Many fans, including 20-year-old Mia Sims from the Gold Coast, expressed their disappointment. “It seemed like a joke, like she didn’t care,” Sims said, highlighting the fact that Ice Spice didn’t even perform her most popular songs. The rapper has not addressed the incident on social media or issued an apology.

The Wildlands festival acknowledged the delays, stating that the strict curfew of 12:30am for the event meant Ice Spice’s set had to be cut short to accommodate the schedule for the next act. The promoters also explained that managing the packed lineup required strict adherence to time limits.

This incident follows reports that Ice Spice had been late for another festival just days earlier, which led to a delay in the set for Chase & Status. While the rapper is still slated to perform in Adelaide and Perth with Wildlands, many fans have expressed doubts about her future in the Australian festival scene.

As for Larney, he believes that Ice Spice’s behavior may have cost her any future invites to perform in the country. "I don't think she’ll be invited back to Australia for a long time," he said.