Scandal-plagued rapper Kanye West played his first live Los Angeles show in five years Wednesday night — strutting on top of an elaborate orb-like stage at SoFi Stadium in front of tens of thousand of fans.
The 24-time Grammy winner — who in late January apologized for his previous antisemitic comments — appeared in a mask above the smoke-filled sphere to kick off the show, the first of two at the Inglewood venue.
He proceeded to play a number of hits spanning his 13 solo albums, streaming the entire show to his Instagram account.
West paused the concert several times to gripe about the production, at one point throwing a tantrum about the lights while performing his 2007 hit “Good Life.”
The concert had drawn sharp criticism from Jewish groups and community leaders, who said it “spits in the face of every Jewish person in Los Angeles.”
West has a long history of making antisemitic statements, including praising Adolf Hitler, calling himself a Nazi and using Holocaust imagery.
Tickets for his rare LA shows were still in demand despite the controversy, with the lowest available seats starting at $125 and floor seats going for $595 including fees.
The “Ye: Homecoming” concerts at SoFi mark West’s first full‑scale US headline concerts since 2021, breaking a multi‑year pause in US live performances. Prior to the shows, he confirmed dates abroad, including two concerts in Mexico City in January 2026 and performances in China and South Korea in 2024 and 2025.
Off stage in LA, West has faced recent legal troubles as well.
A jury recently ordered him to pay $140,000 to a former handyman over unpaid wages, medical expenses and unsafe working conditions during massive renovations at the rapper’s $57 million Malibu mansion.
