Made in America cancellation wasn’t due to a conflict with city officials

In the day after it announced the abrupt cancellation of this year’s Made in America music festival, music mogul Jay-Z’s production company has maintained its silence over why the annual event was called off three weeks before it was scheduled to take over the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

But it appears one potential explanation — conflict with Philadelphia City Hall — can be ruled out.

Mayor Jim Kenney in 2018 floated moving the festival off of the Parkway, prompting outcry from fans and Jay-Z. Kenney abandoned the idea, but the cancellation of this year’s event prompted speculation that the city was once again at loggerheads with the fest.

Two City Hall sources with knowledge of the festival’s planning, however, said the city had nothing to do with the decision by Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s company, to cancel the festival.

» READ MORE: Who loses money when Made in America cancels?

In its announcement on Made in America’s social media channels Monday, Roc Nation, which produces the festival in partnership with concert promoter Live Nation, said the fest was canceled “due to severe circumstances outside of production control” but would return to “the great city of Philadelphia” next year.

No additional information has been released, and Roc Nation and Live Nation did not respond to further questions from The Inquirer.

The festival has been an annual Labor Day weekend fixture in Philadelphia since 2012, with the exception of a coronavirus-related cancellation in 2020.

Concert industry observers have speculated that this year’s cancellation was due to poor tickets sales.

Another theory is that the recent lawsuit filed by three of Lizzo’s former dancers, accusing her of sexual harassment and allowing a hostile work environment, factored into the cancellation. Lizzo was the biggest name in the festival lineup this year.

But that speculation has not been confirmed or commented on by any of the involved parties. Lizzo has denied any wrongdoing and called the allegations in the lawsuit “false” and “too outrageous not to address.”

Last year, the city spent just over $1.5 million on services needed to host the event, such as police overtime and cleanup, and invoiced the festival for about $630,000, a city spokesperson said.

The city did not respond to questions on why the invoice only covered a portion of the expenses, but festival organizers say the overall economic impact far exceeds the city’s cost of hosting it. In an op-ed opposing Kenney’s comments about moving the festival in 2018, Jay-Z said that the event generated $102.8 million in local economic activity in its first six years.

Staff writer Anna Orso contributed reporting.