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Despite his best efforts to accelerate the process, dancehall doctor Beenie Man’s U.K. work visa was not approved in time for his international engagement. Therefore he will not be performing in London this Thursday night as scheduled.
Earlier today, the Jamaican icon took to social media to explain the postponement of his performance at London’s Eventim Apollo Hammersmith, citing the possibility that the twelve days of mourning for the late Monarch head of England were responsible.
Dispatching a series of tweets, Beenie Man wrote,
“Unfortunately, we still need a work visa to perform in the U.K. My Team and I had everything planned and organized. However, I believe due to the Queen’s passing, the mourning period, and the administrative changes, it has caused a delay in the issuance of the visa.“
In another, he spoke about Jamaica’s challenges, “We had to reschedule the event. The embassy in Jamaica is experiencing a backlog due to the 12 days of mourning for the Queen. This has caused a significant delay in the issuance of the work visa,”
Alluding to the hiccup with other acts and rescheduling, he stated, “I would not be able to work the event. Other supporting acts did not receive their visa on time either. It has been very chaotic since the passing of the Queen. We did not believe we were able to execute the event as planned. As such, the next best thing to do was to reschedule.”
The dancehall king then used his final tweets to apologize and explain the consequences if attempts were made to circumvent the installed protocols,
“My sincerest apologies to my fans in the U.K. Nov 27th will be bigger and better. We expedited the process, we made contact with the embassy, we were told to give it until Tuesday, still a delay. If I came to the U.K. and performed, I would be deported or locked up. These things are out of my control. “
Beenie Man later assured that all valid tickets would be honoured for the rescheduled event.
