Festival organizers announced Wednesday that Ludacris will be replacing Lil Wayne after it was reported that the rapper was denied entry to the United Kingdom.
“Due to extreme circumstances beyond our control or influence, we are very sorry to inform you that Lil Wayne is now unable to perform at the festival on Saturday 18th June. Lil Wayne has been refused entry to the UK directly by the Home Office in a last minute decision. We are deeply disappointed by this sudden and negative ruling,” the announcement read.
Lil Wayne will no longer be performing at Strawberries & Creem 2022.
LUDACRIS will now perform on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/cywZip2DsY— Strawberries & Creem Festival (@SandCFestival) June 15, 2022
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“We have received very minimal notice, and the timing of the decision is of course upsetting for all involved – including Lil Wayne’s fans, as well as the festival team…. The team have all worked round the clock to secure a huge new name for Saturday too: We have brought in Grammy-winning rapper LUDACRIS to play a UK EXCLUSIVE set on Saturday.”
The Home Office said it did not routinely report on individual cases. However, it stated: “Any individual who has been sentenced to a custodial sentence of 12 months or more must have their application refused.”
As we previously reported, in 2010, the rapper, whose real name is Dwayne Carter, was sentenced to 12 months in prison after pleading guilty to a gun possession charge. The charges were involved with 2007 arrest where a gun was confiscated from his tour bus.
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He was also found to be carrying a gun and bullets when police searched a private plane in Miami in December 2019 and could have faced up to 10 years in prison. But he was granted a full White House pardon by former US President Donald Trump on his last full day in the job.