Ice Spice is walking away with $68,000 even though her concert at Eastern Kentucky University never happened. The rapper had been booked for a 50-minute set at the university's Fall 2026 Big E Welcome Concert on August 21, a deal worth $275,000, but the show has been pulled from the school's calendar, AllHipHop reported on August 7.
EKU said the cancellation was mutual, citing "unforeseen circumstances," and the contract's cancellation terms gave Ice Spice 25 percent of the original fee, or $68,000, to cover agency expenses already incurred. The rest of the money set aside for the concert went back into the university's 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 the deal in February, with the remaining $150,000 due the day of a show that is no longer happening. The deal had also barred Ice Spice from playing other Kentucky schools, including the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville, before the EKU date, HotNewHipHop reported.
The cancellation is the latest in a run of scrapped dates for Ice Spice, who also skipped a headlining set at Summer Jam earlier this month over what she said were contractual issues she never fully agreed to, according to HotNewHipHop. She has continued performing elsewhere, joining A$AP Rocky's Don't Be Dumb tour as a guest at its Newark closing show alongside 50 Cent and G-Unit.
EKU says its Big E Welcome Week will still run a full schedule of other student events even without the concert, and the university is separately weighing a tuition increase while already charging a mandatory $225-per-semester fee tied to the event.
The facts
- The EKU booking was worth $275,000
- Ice Spice still collects $68,000 under the cancellation terms
- EKU cited unforeseen circumstances
- EKU paid a $125,000 deposit in February
- The remaining $150,000 was due on the day of the show
- The deal barred her from other Kentucky schools before the EKU date
- She also skipped a headlining set at Summer Jam this month
- Big E Welcome Week continues without the concert
How this checks out
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Reported by 2 independent outlets
A few outlets have it so far, short of the bar we set for confirmed.
Cited sources 2
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