Harry Styles fans were frustrated Friday night when his pre-Super Bowl concert at Meridian at Island Gardens was canceled on short notice due to the heavy rain in the Miami area. The former One Direction singer later apologized for the incident, although many fans still took to Twitter to complain. One person even called it “Fyre Fest 2.0.”
โก Lizzo, Mark Ronson, & Harry Styles were performing at the Meridian Island Gardens on Watson Island last night. Severe t-storms moved into Miami and shut the concert down. This is what people walked into just outside the venue.
๐น: @Mariah_moreno14 pic.twitter.com/jKnvZk9MHD
โ Brandon Orr (@BrandonOrrWx) February 1, 2020
Styles was the headlining act at the Pepsi Zero Sugar Super Bowl party at Meridian Island. Although some acts began performing, the severe rain outside forced organizers to cancel the rest of the show and evacuated the venue. Angry fans posted videos of themselves walking through flooded streets.
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“The Harry Styles Planet Pepsi concert was deadaโ fyre fest 2.0. @pepsi im so mad at you,” one person tweeted. “At least the people at FYRE festival got sandwiches,” another Twitter user wrote.
One Twitter user claimed Pepsi banned people from using portable chargers at the venue, so some could not use their phone. She also noted that Uber was charging people $300 after the concert was cancelled.
1) pepsi banned portable chargers and made people throw theirs out so now peoples phones are dying while they are trying to find help
โ c HARRY BDAY BASH (@chalakissy) February 1, 2020
2) people are being charged $300+ for ubers
3) ubers are the only way out to get off the island unless you want to walk across a bridge#SUEPEPSI
“To those of you here in Miami, I was told there’s a severe storm on the way,” Styles tweeted late Friday night. “The fire department would not let us do the show under any circumstances. Please stay safe. I’m so disappointed, and I’m sorry. I love you all. H.”
Pespi waited about an hour to finally comment on the situation, long after people were forced to leave.
“As ordered by the Miami Fire Dept, Planet Pepsi Zero Sugar had to unfortunately be canceled due to extreme weather,” the statement read. “This was a mandatory evacuation in Miami across special event venues. We are focused on ensuring everyone is safely evacuated. We deeply apologize to the fans.”
A half-hour later, Pepsi said they will offer a full refund for tickets and ride share costs.
“For all attendees of tonight’s Planet Pepsi Zero Sugar Party, we understand this is disappointing, and want to do what we can to make this right,” the second statement read. “We are offering a full refund for tonight’s show and for your ride share from the venue. Details coming soon.”
Fans did not direct their anger at Styles, instead continuing to criticize Pepsi and organizers for their handling of the situation.
“Maybe next time have an evacuation plan in place that’s something other than ‘get out, you’re on your own’ and competent workers that don’t laugh in the faces of scared attendees,” one person tweeted.
“That’s not enough,” another commented. “Your staff was very unprofessional and down right rude, address that as well as even letting anyone in that building knowing the conditions weren’t safe.”
Pepsi also sponsors the Super Bowl Halftime Show, which will feature Shakira and Jennifer Lopez this year. Super Bowl LIV kicks off from Hard Rock Stadium at 6:30 p.m. ET on Fox.
Photo credit: Rich Fury/Getty Images for Spotify