Due to his denial of entry into the United Kingdom, Lil Wayne will not be performing at the Strawberries and Creem festival this coming weekend, festival organizers announced on Wednesday (15 June).

On this coming Saturday, June 18, Ludacris will supplant him at the headlining performance, according to a statement published on the festival’s official website.

As a result of unforeseen and severe circumstances, we regret to inform you that Lil Wayne will be unable to perform at the festival on Saturday, June 18th. Lil Wayne was denied direct admission to the United Kingdom in an eleventh-hour decision by the Home Office. “We express profound dismay over this unexpecteԀ and unfavorable verdict,” the statement read. “The timeliness of the decision is obviously distressing for all parties involved, including Lil Wayne’s admirers and the festival staff, as we have received very little notice…. Additionally, the team has labored nonstop to secure a monumental new nаme for Saturday: Grammy-winning rapper LUDACRIS will perform a UK EXCLUSIVE set on that day.

It was expected that Weezy’s presently discontinued engagement would mark his first performance in the United Kingdom in fourteen years. His 2011 U.K. performances were canceled as a result of the U.K. Border Agency rejecting his visa application, which also cited his criminal record. “An application must be denied for any individual who has been sentenced to a custodial sentence of 12 months or more,” a Home Office spokesperson told Rolling Stone in a statement.

The statement may pertain to the December 2020 plea entered by Wayne (actually Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.) to the charge of possessing a fireаrm by a convicted felon, which stemmed from weapons charges in 2007. Subsequently, on January 20, 2021, former President Dоnald Trump granted him a discharge.

Ticket holders who purchаse on Saturday will receive a complimentary ticket for Sunday, June 19, or a ticket discount for the following year. Additionally, the festival declared that Tems, a Nigerian alté vocalist who postponed three of her own performances this week due to a diagnosis of reflux laryngitis, will continue to headline on Sunday.