Kanye West banned from entering the UK over past antisemitic comments as Wireless festival cancels London shows and issues full refunds
Kanye West has been prohibited from traveling to the UK following growing demands for the government to prevent the US rapper from performing at a London music festival this summer due to past antisemitic comments and behavior.
The musician made an application on Monday to travel to Britain, which was refused by the Home Office on the grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good, according to people familiar with the matter.
In response, the organisers of Wireless Festival said they were cancelling the three-day music event in Finsbury Park in July and issuing refunds to all ticket holders.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism, a charity, and the Conservatives were among those calling on home secretary Shabana Mahmood to take action. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage had warned against banning West, who uses the stage name Ye, however.
Number 10 said on Tuesday that decisions on permission to enter the country were “taken on a case-by-case basis in line with the law and the evidence available”, while heavily condemning West’s past remarks.
Australia banned West from entering the country last year after he released a song titled “Heil Hitler” and sold T-shirts featuring a swastika.
West, who last performed in Britain in 2015 when he headlined Glastonbury Festival, previously wrote on social media that “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi” before he was banned from X. He has since apologised and sought to blame his bipolar disorder.
Posting on X, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “Kanye West should never have been invited to headline Wireless. This government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of antisemitism.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Wes Streeting, health secretary, said West should “absolutely not” be headlining Wireless and criticised an “absolutely absurd” statement by the festival’s organisers in defence of the plan.
After news of the ban emerged, a notice published on the festival’s website said: “As a result of the Home Office banning YE from entering the United Kingdom, Wireless Festival has been forced to cancel. All ticket holders will receive an automatic full refund.”
Speaking ahead of the ban, Melvin Benn, managing director at Festival Republic, the promoter of Wireless, said West’s past commentary “about Jews and Hitler is as abhorrent to me as it is to the Jewish community, the prime minister and others that have commented and — taking him at his word — to Ye now also”.
“Ye’s music is played on commercial radio stations in this country. It is available via live streams and downloads in this country without comment or vitriol from anyone and he has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country,” Benn added.
In a statement, West, 48, said: “My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music.”
He added: “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.”
The Board of Deputies of British Jews welcomed the decision to ban West from coming to the UK. But Phil Rosenberg, the organisation’s president, said it was “deeply regrettable” that the contentious rapper had been invited in the first place and that the festival’s organisers had “doubled down” when challenged.
“We hope that lessons are learned across the industry,” Rosenberg said. “Music festivals should be places where all communities feel welcome, not venues that platform individuals with records of profiteering from antisemitism, racism and other repulsive views.”
Farage had warned against banning West from entering the UK, although he condemned the rapper’s previous comments as “really vile” and said he would not personally buy a ticket to watch him perform.
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