Ice Spice Breaks Silence On Controversial New Year's Eve Show

Rapper Ice Spice has finally addressed the backlash surrounding her highly anticipated New Year’s Eve performance at Australia’s Wildlands Festival in Queensland, where her set was abruptly cut short.

The "Barbie World" hitmaker was the headline act for the December 31 event at Brisbane Showgrounds, but fans were left disappointed when she arrived nearly 25 minutes late for her scheduled 30-minute set.

This delay ultimately left Ice Spice with just six minutes of stage time.

When Ice Spice finally took the stage, the situation quickly went from bad to worse. Five minutes into her performance, event organizers cut her microphone due to the looming 12:30 a.m. curfew. 

As boos echoed from the crowd, the "Deli" artist paced back and forth across the stage before flashing a peace sign and exiting without addressing the audience. Disappointed fans, some of whom had traveled up to six hours and spent over $350 per ticket, took to social media to express their frustration.

Despite event organizers granting her an additional minute to perform, Ice Spice only managed to deliver two tracks before her set was cut off.

In a statement on Instagram, Wildlands Festival organizers addressed the incident, saying, “We understand that Ice Spice’s delayed arrival caused some frustration. Managing a stacked festival means that we have to be extremely firm with scheduled set times. We had a strict curfew of 12:30 and needed to ensure that Chase & Status went on stage on time so you could all enjoy the NYE Countdown!”

For the first time since the incident, Ice Spice addressed the controversy during a performance in Perth on January 4. The 25-year-old rapper briefly apologized to her fans, saying, “I’m sorry, guys. Surely y’all can forgive me. It was my birthday, and it takes a long time to look like a Barbie.”

Despite the backlash, Ice Spice managed to end her tour on a high note. Just one day after her apology, she wrapped up her global run supporting her debut album, "Y2K," with a final performance in Adelaide.

The album, which debuted at No. 18 on the Billboard 200, has solidified Ice Spice’s status as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary rap. While the Wildlands controversy may have cast a shadow over her Australian performances, her overall tour success demonstrates her growing star power and dedicated fanbase.

Music podcaster and journalist Brenton Larney, who was in attendance, described the scene as chaotic and disappointing. “At 11:01 p.m. – they gave her an extra minute – they cut the mic and you heard the collective sigh from the crowd,” he told The Guardian. “They’d been waiting for a while and they got two songs? It was a bit ridiculous. And it was just really disrespectful how she walked off, shrugging off flowers fans tried to give her for her birthday.”

Larney noted that Ice Spice seemed subdued throughout her short set, suggesting she gave off the impression that “she didn’t want to be there.” He added, “It was just really disrespectful to see, especially with all the cancellations and stuff we’ve had in the Australian music scene. It didn’t help.”

Mia Sims, a 20-year-old dance teacher from the Gold Coast, revealed that she and many others arrived 30 minutes early to claim a prime spot in the mosh pit ahead of Ice Spice's performance. This left fans tightly packed together for almost an hour, only for the set to end up being remarkably short.

“And she came out and played two songs – and they weren’t even two of her most popular songs,” Sims said. “It kind of seemed like a bit of a joke, like she didn’t really care that much and especially, like, she hasn’t posted anything on her socials or apologized. So I couldn’t imagine being one of her biggest fans and that happening. I’d be pretty devastated”.

A chaotic and short-lived performance by Ice Spice has sparked backlash online after a viral video captured the rapper being booed off stage. Fans expressed frustration over delays and poor time management, with many calling the situation unprofessional.

"Let’s respect everybody’s time and money," one social media user said.

"Being late is just unprofessional, in the UK we have curfews for music so if someone runs over the mic is just cut, I’ve never seen an artist here be late cos we just don’t allow it," another person expressed in the comments section.

"I love that she looks like she wants to cry," a third wrote.