Jay-Z fans were caught on video rushing an entrance to Yankee Stadium on Sunday night ahead of the veteran rapper’s third and final performance of three shows at his hometown stadium, which was delayed roughly three hours as security navigated the massive crowd that had gathered outside, admitting those with tickets, as the already packed audience within the venue were told Jay-Z was waiting to take the stage until everyone who had purchased a ticket could get in.
Early in his performance, which was scheduled for Sunday night but began after midnight on Monday, Jay-Z apologized for the delay and told the sold-out crowd at the 46,000-seat stadium in the South Bronx that, “like, 10,000 people” were outside, so security “closed all the doors, and somebody rushed the door. They closed the door for you guys’ safety and everyone’s safety outside.”
Video posted to X seems to confirm the breach of at least one turnstile at the stadium. In footage posted by users @HipHopKlipz36 and @TheRocSupremacy, several young concertgoers are seen breaching a turnstile, and a bottleneck quickly forms, with several individuals becoming stuck in the entryway as a heaving crowd seems to be pushing them forward.
While certain elated fans jump up and down, excited to have gotten past the turnstile, several others are soon in peril behind them. It’s unclear if those seen in the video are ticketholders or if they are unticketed fans attempting to gain entry.
After about a minute of this dangerous situation unfolding, security and New York Police Department officers are seen rushing over to the entrance to stop a potential stampede. There have been no injuries reported during the concert.
It is unclear if this was an isolated incident or if reported similar breaches of security did in fact occur around the stadium’s many entrances.
Sunday night’s show was the third and final performance of Jay-Z’s historic three-night Yankee Stadium run, a celebration of the 30th anniversary of his seminal album Reasonable Doubt and the 25th anniversary of The Blueprint, with the third night more of an overarching career retrospective. Like the first two nights, it was a star-studded event. Beyoncé, Rihanna, Teyana Taylor, Usher and Pharrell Williams all graced the stage at the show, which wrapped at 2:45 a.m. Monday.
On Monday, the baseball team, Jay-Z’s company, and the promoter of the event released a joint statement after the show, saying: “The Yankees, Roc Nation and Live Nation express our deep gratitude to the NYPD and to Yankee Stadium security personnel for their leadership and direction throughout the evening, putting the welfare of attendees above all other considerations.”
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