As 21 Savage’s attorneys ask for the rapper’s release from U.S. immigration custody, UF organizers don’t have a back-up plan for his scheduled sold-out show or know if they’ll have to refund tickets.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained She’yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, the Grammy-nominated rapper, Sunday morning in a targeted operation in Atlanta, according to The Associated Press.
UF’s Black Student Union and Student Government Productions had planned on having the 26-year-old rapper perform Feb. 27 at the O’Connell Center. UF contracted him to be paid $110,000 for an hour-long set.
The rapper’s attorneys said he has had a visa application pending since 2017, AP reported. Both his legal team and ICE authorities say he has not had legal status since his family’s visas expired in 2006.
It’s unclear if his team will be able to free him and if that would occur before his scheduled UF performance.
UF’s Black Student Union has not discussed plans with Student Government Productions, said Sarah Dominique, BSU’s Black History Month executive director.
SGP is working with its agents and will post an update on the show when more information is available, wrote Andrew Kelly, the SGP chairman, in an email.
Tickets for the concert were $10 for students and $20 for the general public. More than 6,000 were available, and they sold out.
He is the only artist scheduled to perform, Dominique said.
“I was just like, ‘maybe he’ll bounce back from this,’ but considering that this is an immigration issue, I understand that it’s different,” Dominique said.
FILE - In this Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, file photo, 21 Savage performs at the Voodoo Music Experience in City Park in New Orleans. Authorities in Atlanta say Grammy-nominated rapper 21 Savage is in federal immigration custody. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Bryan Cox says the artist, whose given name is Sha Yaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, was arrested in a targeted operation early Sunday, Feb. 3, 2019, in the Atlanta area. (Photo by Amy Harris/Invision/AP, File)
