Wireless Festival cancelled after Kanye West blocked from entering UK

The rapper, legally known as Ye, has been criticised for making antisemitic remarks including voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler

Kanye West: A statement from organiser Festival Republic read, 'The Home Office has withdrawn Ye’s ETA (electronic travel authorisation), denying him entry into the United Kingdom.' File picture: Ian West/PA Wire

Wireless Festival in London has been cancelled after US rapper Kanye West was blocked from entering the UK.

Music fans who have purchased tickets for the three performances by Kanye West, now known as Ye, scheduled for July in London’s Finsbury Park, will now be refunded.

A statement from organiser Festival Republic read: “The Home Office has withdrawn Ye’s ETA (electronic travel authorisation), denying him entry into the United Kingdom.

“As a result, Wireless Festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticket-holders.

“As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time.

“Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had.

“As Ye said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the UK.” 

The headline sets provoked calls for the rapper to be banned from the UK because of behaviour, which has included releasing a song called Heil Hitler and advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.

Kanye West made an application to travel to the UK on Monday via an electronic travel authorisation, but the Home Office stopped him on the grounds that his presence in the UK would “not be conducive to the public good”.

Kanye West’s ETA was initially granted online before ministers intervened, it is understood.

The rapper had offered to meet the British Jewish community before his show.

He said in a statement before the government’s decision: “I’ve been following the conversation around Wireless and want to address it directly.

“My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music.

“I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen.

“I know words aren’t enough — I’ll have to show change through my actions.

“If you’re open, I’m here.” 

Presale tickets for Wireless Festival were released at 12pm on Tuesday and are believed to have sold out, while the general sale was due to open at 12pm on Wednesday.

'Sensible outcome'

The Community Security Trust (CST), which aims to protect British Jews from antisemitism described the Government’s decision as “a sensible outcome to what has been yet another bruising episode for British Jews”.

Its statement added: “Anti-Jewish hatred should have no place in society and cultural leaders have a role to play in ensuring that is the case.

“People who show genuine and meaningful remorse for previous antisemitic behaviour will always receive a sympathetic hearing from the Jewish community, but that process must come before this kind of public rehabilitation.” 

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), which opposed Kanye West’s headline performances, said the government had made “the right decision”.

In a statement, it added: “When it (the government) said that antisemitism has no place in the UK, it backed up its words with action.

“Someone who has boasted of making tens of millions of dollars from selling swastika t-shirts and who released a song called ‘Heil Hitler’ just months ago clearly would not be conducive to the public good in the UK.” 

Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, had said the group would be willing to meet with Kanye West if he pulled out of Wireless.

Mr Rosenberg said: “It has been less than a year since Kanye West released a song entitled Heil Hitler, the culmination of three years of appalling antisemitism.

“He also made a number of deeply offensive comments about the black community, saying that the 400-year experience of slavery was ‘like a choice’.

“Even while claiming remorse today, his latest album includes a track first released last year with the abhorrent title Gas Chamber.” 

He continued: “The Jewish community will want to see a genuine remorse and change before believing that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage at the Wireless Festival.

“As such, we are willing to meet Kanye West as part of his journey of healing, but only after he agrees not to play the Wireless Festival for this year.” 

The currently available version of Kanye West’s latest album Bully, released last month, does not feature a song called Gas Chamber, but the song All The Love, which features CeeLo Green, was reportedly titled Gas Chambers prior to its release.

Festival Republic managing director Melvin Benn had defended the decision to put Kanye West on the bill, describing himself as a “deeply committed anti-fascist” and “person of forgiveness”.

In a statement, Mr Benn added: “We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions.” 

British prime minister Keir Starmer had called the decision to have Kanye West headline the three nights “deeply concerning”, while major sponsors withdrew their support.

Pepsi, Rockstar Energy, and Diageo withdrew sponsorship from the festival after Kanye West was announced as the headline act, and no brands appeared as visible sponsors on Wireless Festival’s official website on Monday evening.

Additionally PayPal, which is a payment partner for the annual rap and hip-hop festival, chose not to appear in any of its future promotional materials.

It is also understood that the Mayor of London’s office had refused permission for the London Stadium in Stratford to stage a Kanye West concert this summer, with sources citing community concerns and the reputational impact on the city.

In January, Kanye West took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal to apologise, titled: “To Those I’ve Hurt.” 

“I am not a Nazi or an antisemite,” it said.

“I love Jewish people.” In his letter, he said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month-long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour that destroyed my life”.