Vanilla Ice cancels concert after coronavirus backlash

American rapper Vanilla Ice has come under fire after promoting what appeared to be a show that would breach social distancing rules.

With the US currently grappling with a flood of new COVID-19 diagnosis every day, the Ice Ice Baby singer’s attempt to host a concert in Austin this weekend seemed to signal the former hit-maker may be doing whatever he could to stay relevant.

Despite calls for people to stay at home to help curb the spread of the virus, the upcoming 4th of July celebrations seemed too tempting to miss out on.

The gig had been scheduled to be held at the Emerald Point Bar & Grill in the Texan city. Despite the governor Greg Abbott last week shutting down bars and clubs, the venue was still allowed to host live music because of its classification as a restaurant.

The controversy first erupted after the rapper posted a video online of a crowd from pre-COVID times, along with the caption “I can’t wait to get back to this. The ’90s were the best. We didn’t have coronavirus, or cell phones, or computers.”

“We had 5.0‘s, Blockbuster, Beavis and Butthead, Wayne’s World, Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan. And Mortal Kombat is still better than Fortnight but we got out of the house, We danced, we invented house parties in the ’90s. The last of the great decades.”

His common sense seemed to be melting when he also tweeted that although he “take the coronavirus serious…we can’t live in a bubble. I think at this point we all understand the severity of it. (P)ractice social distancing and wear a mask. This is an outside venue, Fourth of July on the lake with fireworks. Plenty of room for distancing.”

But, he has since backtracked and took to Twitter to announce the cancellation of his concert.

“Basically, I’m not going. I listened to my fans; I hear all you people out there. I didn’t know the numbers were so crazy in Austin. But we were hoping that it would be better by the 4th of July because we booked this concert a long time ago. So basically we just want to stay safe. You know, we do take it serious… We were just hoping for a good time on the 4th of July weekend, but it turned into be a big focal point on me, and it’s not about that. So anyway, happy 4th of July, and hopefully by New Year’s this corona crap will have a cure.”