The artist formally known as Kanye West, Ye, has been denied entry into the U.K. As a result of this, Wireless Festival has been cancelled since Ye was its only headliner. This all comes just a day after one of the event’s biggest sponsors, Pepsi, pulled out.
The rapper has come under serious fire over his antisemitic hate speech over the past few years.
“The Home Office has withdrawn Ye’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom,” a statement by Wireless Fest reads. “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,” it continues. “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.”
Ye
Though most have their doubts as to how many stakeholders were consulted. Considering Ye’s 2023 song, “Heil Hitler,” and selling swastika t-shirts on his website caused massive outrage. Just last year, Ye was denied a visa for Australia with his bigotry cited as the reason.
In January, he took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal to apologise. In this ad, he acknowledged that his behaviour was abhorrent. Citing some serious mental health issues as the reason for his actions.
But a song called “Heil Hitler” is kind of a hard bell to un-ring in terms of public image. It’s just hard to believe that no one saw public outcry about Ye headlining Wireless for 3 days coming. Even Prime Minister Keir Starmer weighed in, saying it’s “deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.”
However, the Festival itself still defends the choice. “I have witnessed many episodes of despicable behaviour that I have had to forgive and move on from,” Melvin Benn, managing director at Festival Republic, wrote to Variety on Monday. “If I wasn’t before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work.” Festival Republic is the U.K. promoter behind Wireless Festival.
