Method Man, a veteran member of the Wu-Tang Clan and celebrated hip-hop producer, has publicly denied participating in an Australia tour in March. He accused the promoters of falsely advertising the event as featuring all living members of the group, despite his lack of agreement to join.
A spokesperson for the tour’s co-promoter, Untitled Group, responded by stating that all living members of the Wu-Tang Clan were confirmed to take part in the Australian leg of the tour. They mentioned that visas and travel arrangements had been made in consultation with the band’s representatives.
In late March, fans were left disappointed when a Wu-Tang Clan Australia tour failed to include four members of the iconic hip-hop group. This led to Ticketek offering refunds to ticket holders via email. The message stated, “We want to make fans aware that due to unforeseen circumstances, a couple of members will be unable to join the remaining tour dates in Melbourne and Sydney,” according to Rolling Stone.
Method Man, also known as Clifford Smith, was among the four missing members, along with Raekwon, Cappadonna, and Young Dirty Bastard. He addressed the controversy during an Instagram live session that he later shared on YouTube. In the video, he reassured fans that their frustration was not directed at him.
“Before we even went on the overseas tour, I wasn’t going. I said I wasn’t going. I said I was booked,” Smith explained. “Here’s the problem with all these tours and things that RZA comes up with: nobody takes into consideration my schedule. So again, I wasn’t even going to go overseas and do that tour, but the fact that they will put a spin on it, I was seeing flyers saying all living members going to be there.”
“I’m looking at this s— like they know that I haven’t agreed to go on the tour yet. So why they putting – and this is promoters, overzealous promoters and s—, so I told guys before we left, I said, there’s a chance I will do the overseas dates, but there is no chance that I am going to Dubai or Australia because I’m booked … and they knew this before we even left for the tour.”
Smith emphasized that while artists have a responsibility to attend planned tours, fans should also scrutinize the role of show promoters.
“The fact that this is the second time or third time that this has happened … you guys have to somehow know that at the end of the day, while you’re blaming the artists who should show up, by the way, especially if they say they are, you guys have to look at the promoters,” he said. “Promoters are privy to this information, but don’t want to give out this information … they’ll wait for the ticket sales, and then they’ll make an announcement close to the date, which I don’t think is fair … as far as the schematics of things and how things work in this business, you always give people an option to choose, in my opinion.”
Smith also mentioned that while planning tours for Wu-Tang Clan, he wanted to pursue other interests outside of music.
“I decided that I wanted to spread my wings, so to speak, try to fall into other ways of entertainment, to fulfill myself. And I found it in acting. I really, I really like this s—,” he said.
