Festival-goers were left disappointed after waiting over half an hour for Ice Spice to appear on stage, only to have her cut off after two songs.
Ice Spice, 25, has now apologised for her lateness, telling fans it takes a ‘long time’ to look like Barbie.
The American rapper was set to perform at Wildlands Festival in Brisbane, Australia on New Year’s Eve, taking a 10.30pm slot.
However, various reports claimed she didn’t take to the stage until 10.55pm, leaving her just five minutes for her full set.
This meant festival organisers had to cut off Ice Spice, real name Isis Naija Gaston, at 11.01pm — giving her an extra minute according to The Guardian.
‘They cut the mic and you heard the collective sigh from the crowd,’ Brenton Larney recalled. ‘They’d been waiting for a while and they get two songs?’
He suggested she ‘didn’t want to be there’ and called her behaviour as she walked off stage ‘disrespectful’ to the crowd who had been eagerly awaiting her performance.
‘It was just really disrespectful how she walked off, she was laughing, they tried to give her flowers for her birthday and she just shrugged them off,’ Brenton added.
Other artists were scheduled to take to the stage after Ice Spice, including headliners Chase and Status to ring in the New Year.
The festival issued a statement after the disappointment, writing on Instagram: ‘We understand that Ice Spice’s delayed arrival caused some disappointment.
‘Managing a stacked festival means that we have to be extremely firm with set times. We had a strict curfew of 12:30 and need to ensure that the final act went on stage on time, so everyone could enjoy the New Year’s Eve countdown.’
The Deli hitmaker reportedly addressed the disappointment for the first time at the Wildlands festival in Perth on Saturday, January 4.
‘I’m sorry guys, surely y’all can forgive me,’ she told the crowd. ‘It was my birthday and it takes a long time to look like a Barbie.’
She followed this up with her song Barbie World, which was done in collaboration with Nicki Minaj for the 2023 film soundtrack.
Ice Spice isn’t the only singer to have her microphone cut off at a festival after walking out on stage late.
Infamously, Lana Del Rey was half an hour late for her Glastonbury gig in 2023, blaming her hair for the tardiness.
Organisers appeared to be telling her to wrap things off in her ear but the star refused to leave the stage — even after they muted her microphone.
She ended up singing a cappella with the thousands-strong crowd, walking along the barrier and interacting with fans until she eventually left.
Metro has reached out to Ice Spice’s reps for comment.
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