NEW YORK — A highly anticipated Jay-Z concert at Yankee Stadium turned chaotic Sunday night when hundreds of fans who did not have tickets attempted to push their way into the venue, causing entrances to be shut down and delaying the show for hours.
The rapper ultimately took the stage at 12:17 a.m. Monday morning, telling the audience that the lengthy wait was due to people attempting to rush the doors. He said he refused to begin performing while there was a risk of fans being trampled as they tried to get inside.
“Really sorry for the inconvenience, but I had to make sure everybody was OK,” Jay-Z told the crowd. He went on to thank attendees for their patience and assured them they would have a “good time tonight.”
In a joint statement, the Yankees, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation, and Live Nation described the situation as groups of hundreds of people without tickets who “stormed over peaceful ticketholders, and in some cases, breached security.” As a result, the stadium was forced to close its entrances for an extended period before being able to carefully reopen them.
Video footage captured outside the stadium showed a massive crowd gathered near one of the entrances. Separate video from inside the venue showed individuals rushing through an open door before security personnel were able to step in and prevent more people from entering.
A spokesperson for the New York Police Department stated that there was no information available regarding any arrests connected to the incident.
