Mumbai– Singer Neha Kakkar has spoken out following allegations by Melbourne concert organizers that she refused to perform due to a low audience turnout of around 700 people. Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Kakkar addressed the controversy with a pointed video response.
In the clip, she is seen addressing the camera: “Hi, you want to know what actually happened at the Melbourne show, right? Let me show you.” The video then cuts to lively scenes from her performance, featuring a cheering crowd singing and dancing along to her hit songs. She captioned the post, “Thank you Melbourne!”—a move that appeared to dismiss claims she had backed out of the show.
The controversy erupted in March when event organizers Pace D and Bikram Singh Randhawa publicly alleged that Kakkar declined to perform in Melbourne after seeing a smaller-than-expected crowd. According to them, the singer had agreed to two back-to-back shows with the same team—one in Sydney and one in Melbourne. While the Sydney concert drew between 1,500 and 2,000 attendees and went ahead smoothly, they claimed Kakkar was displeased with the Melbourne turnout and refused to take the stage.
“The crowd was very angry because they had been waiting for hours,” one of the organizers told RJ Siddharth Kannan in a recent interview. “We were told she said, ‘There are just 700 people. Until you fill up the stadium, I won’t perform.’”
They also pushed back against Kakkar’s earlier claims that poor logistical planning contributed to the concert’s failure. In a previous social media post, Kakkar alleged her team faced multiple challenges, including no sound check, unpaid sound engineers, and a lack of basic amenities like food, water, and accommodation. She also claimed the organizers had abandoned the venue without clearing her payment.
In response, Pace D and Randhawa denied the accusations, stating that technical arrangements were completed and opening acts had already performed before her scheduled set. They added that hotel accommodations had been arranged in advance and that several vehicles were lined up to handle her transportation. They firmly rejected her claims of inadequate hospitality.
The situation escalated further when fans expressed outrage over the delays. Kakkar reportedly arrived nearly three hours late to the Melbourne venue, prompting frustration from the audience. During the performance, which was marred by booing and heckling, Kakkar broke down on stage.
While both sides continue to defend their accounts, Neha Kakkar’s recent Instagram video appears to be her final word on the matter—offering a contrasting narrative of a successful performance despite the claims surrounding it. (Source: IANS)
