Kanye West throws mic, storms off stage at Pan Am Games gig

Kanye West performs during the closing ceremony of the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto on Sunday, July 26, 2015. The 38-year-old threw his microphone in the air and abruptly left the stage, leaving officials confused if it was part of his performance.

West caused a bit of controversy when the Pan Am Games announced that he would be performing at the closing ceremonies in Toronto. Immensely popular hip-hop artist Kanye West will be the main attraction of the show, while Pitbull and Millbrook, Ontario’s Serena Ryder will also perform.

“Did Kanye West just throw the mic in the audience and walk off the stage unceremoniously!?!”

West started his performance in near darkness, before having the entire Pan Am Dome illuminated.

At one point, he called for the stadium lights to be turned onto the crowd, and gave a shout-out to all the athletes. In the midst of delivering a long set chocked with hits, Kanye’s mic apparently cut out.

“I’ve been a Kanye fan forever”, she said prior to the show. I guess they only paid him till 10pm.

But isn’t that what we’ve come to know and love about West, his ability to leave us wondering what just happened? Maybe he was testing the waters by dropping in his hit-single driven set with “Black Skinhead“, if only to remind viewers that their comfort can be disrupted by will of his choosing.

The rapper’s scheduled performance at the sports event had previously proved to be a controversial one, with over 50,000 people signing an online petition calling for West to be dropped from the bill. The Ontario capital’s diversity inspired the ceremony’s centrepiece, where dozens of dancers and performers filled the light-bathed stage with globally derived movements, each meant to pay tribute to a locally prevalent population.