Helsinki Festival learned of Flo Rida's Russia gig after booking

Helsinki City Festival organizers learned in early February that American rapper Flo Rida, who performed at their event on Friday, had appeared in Moscow approximately a month earlier. Flo Rida posted a video on Instagram on May 6 from Red Square, thanking Moscow and expressing appreciation for the love shown to him and his family.

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At that point, it was impossible for us to cancel this concert. We have no contractual right to cancel his performance here.

Tomi Lindblom, spokesperson for Helsinki City Festival, confirmed that the festival was unaware of Flo Rida's Russian concert when the artist was initially booked nearly a year ago. The Moscow performance was announced in February, at which point the festival organizers became aware of it. "At that point, it was impossible for us to cancel this concert. We have no contractual right to cancel his performance here," Lindblom explained. He added that cancelling the show for reasons not stipulated in the contract would have resulted in significant compensation claims, and the festival would still have had to pay the artist.

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We naturally oppose all activities that support Russia, and performing in Moscow is one such activity.

Lindblom emphasized that Flo Rida's actions do not represent the values of the Helsinki City Festival, which stands with Ukraine. "We naturally oppose all activities that support Russia, and performing in Moscow is one such activity." He clarified that there was no intention to conceal the Moscow performance, as such information is publicly available. While Lindblom could not confirm if organizers had expressed their disapproval to Flo Rida, he stated that the festival actively monitors global events and would not book performers who publicly support Russia or perform there. He maintained that the organizers acted based on the information available at the time of booking and found it difficult to act differently given the contractual constraints.

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At that point, it was impossible for us to cancel this concert. We have no contractual right to cancel his performance here.