“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” will be short some performances this year.
On Wednesday, scheduled headliner LL Cool J announced that his appearance at the New Year’s Eve celebration broadcast has been scrapped after he tested positive for COVID-19.
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“I know it’s disappointing to the millions of fans but my test came back positive for COVID, which means I’ll no longer be able to perform as scheduled at NYRE,” LL Cool J said in a statement to ET Canada. “We were ready and I was really looking forward to ringing in 2022 in my hometown in a special way, but for now I wish everyone a healthy and happy New Year. The best is yet to come!”
ABC and the event’s producers also announced that R&B singer Chlöe will also be missing her planned performance.
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As COVID case numbers in the U.S. and around the world surge due to the Omicron variant, New York City has decided to allow New Year’s events to go forward, though with fewer attendees and rules for masking and social distancing.
Last week, Fox cancelled its own “Fox’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022”, which was also set to broadcast live from Times Square, due to the rise in cases in New York.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve”. Seacrest has hosted the annual show since 2005.
