Before you leave, Alex Warren would like to set the record straight.
The “Ordinary” singer clapped back accusations that he canceled his upcoming performance at the Sommo Festival in Prince Edward Island, Canada, for a higher-paying gig.
“Four weeks ago, I asked for time off,” he began in a Sept. 4 TikTok video. “I am going through a lot of stuff—I’ve been touring all year, I have rehearsals on my birthday, all these different things—so I wanted a week off where I could go see a therapist.”
Alex said his team “talked to” festival organizers, as well as producers for a talk show he was scheduled to perform on following the two-day music event—which features headliners Alanis Morissette and Hozier—about canceling his appearance.
“I thought it was handled,” the 24-year-old continued, explaining that he only realized that the cancelations were “never announced” until after Sommo Festival released a statement alleging that he was pulling out of the show for another gig. “That’s not the case.”
Sharing that the communication between his team and festival organizers was “handled poorly,” Alex went on to apologize for the mix-up.
“To P.E.I., I’m sorry,” he said. “This isn’t some bulls–t cop out. This isn’t some thing where it’s blaming someone else.”
The “Before You Leave Me” artist added, “Truly, I had no idea that this was gonna happen and if that was the case, I would have tried to carve out time somewhere else.”
In a since-deleted Instagram post shared on Sept. 3, Sommo Festival organizers said Alex withdrew from his appearance due to “a recently booked scheduling conflict.”
“With the festival being next week, as you can imagine, this leaves us in a difficult position,” their statement read. “We are working hard to complete the lineup, and you’ll be the first to know when we do.”
Other acts slated to hit the stage include St. Paul & the Broken Bones, PVRIS, Michael Marcagi, Hollow Coves and Alice Merton.
For more concert controversies, keep reading…
Luke Bryan
During his finale performance of “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” at the North Dakota State Fair in 2025, the American Idol judge was pelted with a flying object. However, the musician took it in stride, finishing the song without missing a beat.
As one fan noted, “Carried on like a champ.”
Nick Jonas
The Jonas Brothers member had to send out an S.O.S and ask fans to stop throwing things on stage after two bracelets almost hit him at a California stop on the group’s tour in 2023.
Cardi B
In case it wasn’t clear, Cardi B does not like it like that. When a front row patron splashed their drink on the performer mid-set at Drai’s Beachclub in Las Vegas July 2023, she responded by throwing her microphone.
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a statement that an unidentified woman reported a battery case the day after the concert, but noted no arrest or citations have been issued. In August 2023, Cardi’s lawyers told TMZ that police informed them no chargers would be filed against the singer.
Bebe Rexha
Baby, Bebe Rexha is gonna have the best f–kin’ night of her life no matter what happens. Struck in the face when a man at her June 2023 show in NYC threw a phone, she later posted a photo of her injured eye, writing, “I’m good.”
Todd A Spodek, a lawyer for Nicolas Malvagna, who was arrested and charged with assault, told TMZ, “As a fan, Mr. Malvagna’s sole intention was to have Ms. Rexha take photos with his phone, and return it as a keepsake. It was never his intention to injure Ms. Rehxa.”
Kelsea Ballerini
Kelsea Ballerini didn’t find it all that charming when someone tossed jewelry up on stage during a June 2023 performance in Idaho. “Someone threw a bracelet, it hit me in the eyes,” she wrote on Instagram Stories days later, “and it more so just scared me than hurt me.”
Ava Max
Listen, she’s not that sweet. Ava Max had words for the man who assaulted her during an L.A. performance in June 2023. “He slapped me so hard that he scratched the inside of my eye,” the “Sweet but Psycho” singer wrote on Twitter. “He’s never coming to a show again.”
Pink
Pink thought the fan who randomly passed her a wheel of Brie while she was singing at at London’s British Summer Time Festival in 2023 was kinda grate. “What the f–k,” the musician said, as she reached for the dairy. “I wanna kiss you on the mouth.”
But just give us a reason for why another fan tossed a bag of ashes the very next day. “This is your mom?” the “What About Us” singer asked. “I don’t know how to feel about this.”
Harry Styles
A sign of the times? Harry Styles had to get away from numerous flying objects during his Love on Tour, including, inexplicably, a handful of Skittles at a 2022 show in Los Angeles. A rep for the taste the rainbow brand later tweeted, “Didn’t think I needed to say this: Please don’t throw Skittles.”
Billie Eilish
What a boob. As Billie Eilish sang “Lost Cause” at a February 2022 show, one fan tossed a set of false boobs at her. But proving that she’s, uh, breast under pressure, the seven-time Grammy winner flung them back into the crowd and kept going.
Kid Cudi
Uh, guys, he warned you. Moments after Kid Cudi told the crowd at his 2022 Rolling Loud set, “Yo, I’m going to walk off this stage, if y’all throw one more f–king thing up here, I will leave,” he was pegged with yet another object. So he left.
Ariana Grande
Arianators were left feeling sour after Ariana Grande was beaned with a lemon while headlining Coachella in 2019. And though the singer was definitely not so into it, into it, into it, she brushed off the fruit, telling the crowd, “One of ya’ll threw a lemon at me, s–t.”
