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Ice Spice just canceled her Eastern Kentucky University concert, and she’s still walking away with $68,000.
EKU had agreed to pay the rapper $275,000 for a single 50-minute set at the Fall 2026 Big E Welcome Concert. That show, scheduled for August 21 at Alumni Coliseum, is officially off the school’s calendar now.
Fox 56’s report on the cancellation says an EKU spokesperson confirmed the show was scrapped “due to unforeseen circumstances” through a mutual deal between the school and the artist.
EKU negotiated a cancellation fee equal to 25% of the original contract amount, covering agency expenses already incurred.
That works out to $68,000, money the rapper keeps even though she never takes the stage. All the remaining funds originally set aside for the concert have been returned to the student-funded Eastern Experience account.
A contract obtained by the Herald-Leader through Kentucky’s open records law shows EKU paid a $125,000 deposit when it signed in February.
The remaining $150,000 was due on the day of the show, which is no longer happening. The university had also agreed to “provide sound and lights, DJ backline, video wall, pyro and all rider requirements, per Artist specification.”
The contract also guaranteed dressing rooms described as “two-three completely dedicated, fully air conditioned and secure dressing room(s) with a clean toilet and hot/cold water.” She was also set to keep 80 to 90% of the profits from merchandise sold at the show, per the agreement.
The deal had barred Ice Spice from performing at other Kentucky schools, including the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville, before the EKU date.
EKU is also weighing a tuition increase and already charges students a mandatory $225-per-semester Big E Experience Fee. Some students had already criticized the university for spending so heavily on a single performer.
EKU says the Big E Welcome Week will still run a full schedule of other student events built to help new students settle in, even without the concert.
