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Rihanna Pulls Out of Lollapalooza Colombia, Organisers Cancel the Whole Thing

International pop superstar Rihanna has pulled out of what would have been the inaugural Lollapalooza festival in Colombia. As a result, the organisers of the festival have collectively turned to each other, shrugged and uttered the sacred words of “fuck it,” before cancelling the festival all together. Despite other big name headliners like Lana Del Rey, The Chainsmokers, Wiz Khalifa and Disclosure, they ultimately didn’t have enough time to pull another artist of her magnitude.

The ANTI singer cited concerns over the Zika Virus as the reason for the cancellation, as the disease . She is by far not the only high profile figure to postpone (read: cancel) their planned trips to South America. A large number of athletes have similarly opted out of attending the 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro due to virus fears.

The Zika Virus is a nasty mosquito-borne illness that is most prominently found in tropical areas. Mosquito nets aren’t much of a defence, as the particular species of bug that transfers it is active at day. It causes fever, rashes, joint and muscle pain, vomiting and headaches. Not pleasant stuff.

While Rihanna’s motives were completely understandable, it is a shame to see the entire festival cancelled.

Lollapalooza will still be running in Chicago from July 28-31 and in Berlin on the 10th and 11th of September, so you can still experience the festival in those places.

Below, watch Rihanna’s sci-fi new video for her Star Trek theme song, Sledgehammer.

Image: Kevin Winter/2016 Getty Images