Karleusa's Gothenburg Show Cancelled, Refunds Promised

Jelena Karleusa’s show in Gothenburg, scheduled for this weekend, has been cancelled, and ticket buyers have been promised their money back. Telegraf and Mondo reported the news on November 5, citing a notice that appeared on social media. Telegraf says the show was in Gothenburg, while Mondo mentions only a “prestigious club” in Sweden. Neither outlet names the club.

What does the notice about the cancelled show say?

The notice is brief and gives no reason. Ticket holders are told to contact the organizer, who promises that refunds will be issued:

“The event has been cancelled. For additional questions, please contact the organizer. All ticket buyers will be contacted soon and their money will be returned.”

Mondo adds that the organizers are not commenting for now. The same article claims that almost every concert she had booked outside Serbia has been cancelled over the past few weeks, while Telegraf writes that almost all of her shows have been called off.

What happened before the cancellation in Germany?

Both outlets say her show at the German club Teatro was cancelled “last weekend,” without giving an exact date or city. Karleusa responded on X. She wrote that the club owner called off the show abruptly, even though he had paid her an advance a few days earlier, and that she calls him Suki. She claims he is from Tutin and works in Essen. The sources contain no independent confirmation of that. Palestinian flags, she says, were the trigger:

“The problem started when I wrote on X that I do not want foreign flags on the Public Broadcasting Service building, meaning the Palestinian flags that I saw some strange people hanging. At that moment, Suki (or whatever his name is) calls my manager and cancels the show.”

She added that she sympathizes with the Palestinian people: “I sympathize with the people of Palestine, with every victim, especially when it comes to the suffering of children.” According to her, the club stated that she had “belittled students,” which she calls a silly explanation. None of the sources reproduces the club’s statement itself.

No reason has been given for the Gothenburg cancellation. Karleusa ties the flags to the German club, and the sources do not make that claim for the Swedish show.

What did Emir Habibovic say?

Singer Emir Habibovic reacted a day earlier, on November 4, in his Instagram story, after Karleusa’s remarks about Germany. He wrote:

“For as long as I can remember, this woman neither knows how to talk nor how to sing! Jelena, this is not about a flag… It is about support for people who, through no fault of their own, lost their families and homes, and you know that yourself. Every normal person would support that. Tutin and Novi Pazar supported you in everything, and so did all of Sandzak. The problem is in you, because you did not sell out even 10 percent.”

In a follow-up story he posted a photo of Karleusa at a concert in North Macedonia, holding a Macedonian flag, with the message: “As far as I know, a citizen kisses their own flag, and since money is at stake here… well, it has that soul too”. Habibovic did not say what he meant by “10 percent,” so it remains open whether he is talking about tickets sold.

How did Karleusa respond to the cancellations?

While filming a new season of “Pinkove zvezde” (Pink’s Stars), she commented on the cancelled show in Germany. She said:

“But one show fewer or more does not matter. Look, I have no problem with all my shows being cancelled, but in the coming period I will be singing, and how. I am the biggest star in the Balkans, I do not know what problem people have.”

Earlier she explained that she had said she wants no flags at Serbia’s Public Broadcasting Service other than the Serbian one, Palestinian included. She said this before the Gothenburg news broke. The sources do not record Karleusa commenting on the Swedish show by the time these articles were published.