Key Takeaways
- Russell Simmons joined Kanye West and Bianca Censori backstage at Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium, where Simmons and the rapper embraced in footage shared online.
- The Oct. 24 concert marked Ye’s first Indonesia performance and only Southeast Asian stop of his 2026 tour, drawing more than 77,000 fans with a 360-degree stage, lasers, and pyrotechnics.
- The reunion continued Simmons and Ye’s long association and followed canceled 2026 dates in the UK, Poland, Switzerland, and Russia.
Russell Simmons resurfaced in Kanye West's orbit on Saturday (Oct. 24), turning up backstage at the rapper's first-ever concert in Indonesia.
Footage circulating on Instagram placed the Def Jam co-founder alongside Ye and Bianca Censori at Gelora Bung Karno Main Stadium in Jakarta. The photos show Simmons and Ye embracing multiple times, smiling, and enjoying each other’s company.
Check out Simmons and Ye together below.
The show itself was a first. Ye had never performed in Indonesia, and Saturday night was the only Southeast Asian stop on the 2026 Ye Live Concert Tour.
His production included the 360-degree Globe Stage, plus lasers, pyrotechnics, and fire shipped in for the night, according to the Straits Times. The crowd at the 77,000-seat venue was reported at more than capacity.
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Simmons has been in Ye's circle for a long stretch of time. The two appeared together at the Occupy Wall Street rally in 2011, and Simmons spent Valentine's Day 2023 with West and Censori at a Hollywood movie theater.
Ye’s performance in Indonesia is one of the latest following lost dates in the UK earlier this year when Wireless Festival barred his entry. Other shows, including in Poland and France, were also canceled amid criticism over the artist’s past comments about Hitler.
