Fox’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022 special, which was going to feature performances by Billy Idol and various other stars, has been canceled due to the surging number of COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant.
The show was set to be hosted live in New York City’s Times Square by Ken Jeong and Joel McHale, alongside special correspondent Kelly Osbourne, daughter of Ozzy Osbourne.
A statement from Fox obtained by Variety reads, “While we are confident in the health and safety protocols for Fox’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022, the recent velocity of the spread of Omicron cases has made it impossible to produce a live special in Times Square that meets our standards.”
The statement continues,”We will not be moving forward with Fox’s New Year’s Eve Toast & Roast 2022 in New York. The health and safety of our casts and crews has always been, and will continue to be, of the utmost importance. Replacement programming for New Year’s Eve on Fox will be announced in the coming days.”
Variety notes that it “remains to be seen” whether the announced musical guests, including Idol, whose performance was among several that were recorded at an earlier date, will still be part of said replacement programming.
In an unrelated note, Idol canceled his planned appearance this past Monday at the 2021 Above Ground benefit concert, an event organized by his longtime touring guitarist Billy Morrison and Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro.
Billy explained in a Twitter post that he’d dropped off the bill of the Los Angeles event because he’d caught a respiratory cold that affected his voice, while noting that he’d tested negative for COVID-19 twice.
Idol is next scheduled to perform in February, when he serves as the opening act for Journey‘s 2022 tour.
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