On Thursday, Carnegie Hall and the Vienna Philharmonic went out with the news that the Russian star conductor Valerij Gergiev will now be replaced.

He would have conducted several concerts in Carnegie Hall during the week, with a premiere today Friday, but will now be replaced by another conductor, reports The New York Times and Swedish Radio Kulturnytt, among others.

Valerij Gergiev has previously shown his support for Russian President Vladimir Putin, and is also friends with the president, according to The New York Times.

He is also said to have supported Russia's attack on Ukraine.

Defended the star conductor to the last

Both the Vienna Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall have previously defended Valerij Gergiev.

The decision to replace the star conductor comes just days after the chairman of the Vienna Philharmonic, Daniel Froschauer, insisted that Gergiev still conduct the concerts at Carnegie Hall, and that he was first and foremost an artist and not a politician.

But President Putin's decision on a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday forced the concert hall and orchestra to rethink.

#CancelGergiev

A hashtag had already begun to spread on Twitter with a call for Gergiev to be replaced, #CancelGergiev, with pictures of the chairman and President Putin together.

The Russian pianist Denis Matsuev, who would have performed with Valery Gergiev on Friday night, will also be removed from the concert.

He is also said to have links with Vladimir Putin, and expressed his support for the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, according to The New York Times.