The highly anticipated and much beleaguered Fame Kills Tour starring Kanye West and Lady Gaga is apparently the latest victim to pay the price of celebrity. Promoter Live Nation announced the tour’s cancellation in a brief statement that came late in the day on October 1.

Tickets were already available for the North American tour’s first 11 concerts, and many of the remaining performances were to go on sale this weekend, October 3. Refunds will be available at the point of purchase for box office and outlet customers, while online and phone transactions will be refunded automatically.

A reason was not given for the cancellation, but the announcement comes after weeks of turmoil and confusion for the tour.

West announced his plans to tour with Lady Gaga during a summer interview on daytime talk show “The View.” Additional details on the outing did not come until mid-September, when Lady Gaga’s site revealed the first four dates of the tour and said the rest would be revealed on September 14.

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However, that date came and passed without any official notice, causing much speculation on the status of the tour. Four days later on September 18, an official itinerary was finally confirmed by Live Nation.

The delays and confusion came just as West was under full fire for his antics at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. At the September 13 ceremonies, West interrupted the acceptance speech of country musician Taylor Swift, who won the award for Best Female Video.

That stunt threw West into the middle of a media firestorm that ironically mirrored the hazards of fame named by his planned tour. Now, as the weeks have progressed and after multiple apologies from West, public and media response to the artist has remained cold.

It is unclear whether the changing attitudes toward West played any part in the cancellation.

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