UK government bans Kanye West from entering the country with Wireless Festival cancelled
Kanye West has been blocked from travelling to the UK by the government, putting a stop to his planned headline performances at Wireless Festival.
The rapper caused huge controversy when it was announced that he would headline all three nights of the London festival this July, in light of his antisemitic history.
According to BBC News, West made an application on April 6th to travel to the country via an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA).
However, the Home Office has now denied this application as it was considered that his presence would not be “conducive to the public good”. On April 5th, the government had said his right to enter the country was under review.
As a result, Wireless Festival has announced that the entire event at Finsbury Park, set to take place from July 10th to 12th, has now been cancelled, with refunds being issued to ticketholders.
In a statement, they said: “The Home Office has withdrawn YE’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom.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.”
They added: “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.”
West has an extensive history of antisemitic behaviours, not limited to claiming himself to be a Nazi, selling T-shirts with Swastikas, and releasing a song called ‘Heil Hitler’ last year.
He attempted to apologise for these actions in a Wall Street Journal advertisement in January this year, attributing his behaviour to a brain injury and bipolar disorder, saying at the time: “I love Jewish people”.
Subsequently releasing his album Bully on March 27th and staging a comeback tour which began at the SoFi Stadium in California this week, West is still set to travel Europe this summer, visiting the Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal.
His shows at Wireless were set to mark his first UK performances since Glastonbury in 2015, but they were met with widespread condemnation across the political spectrum.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer first said the booking of West was “deeply concerning”, which was echoed in comments across the Labour Party, including London mayor Sadiq Khan.
Pressure was then added by the Conservative Party, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid, who all called on the government to ban the rapper from the country.
Despite this, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said that he didn’t believe West should be banned, as he stated at a press conference: “I think that, for myself, I wouldn’t buy a ticket. I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy a ticket. I think his comments are vile, really vile, the rabbit hole of antisemitism and straight Nazi-sm is vile”.
Farage added: “But I think if we start banning people from entering the country because we don’t like what they say, I worry where that ends up.”
Linking his point of view to the current UK Prime Minister, the politician continued, “If Keir Starmer were to ban people coming into Britain with whose views he doesn’t like, almost nobody would be allowed in.”
As the controversy ensued, Melvin Benn, the boss of Festival Republic, who owns Wireless, released a statement calling West’s previous actions “abhorrent” but urged the public for “forgiveness”.
Benn also spoke to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 on April 7th, where he considered the prospect of West being banned by the government and referenced Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood by saying: “It may be that the Home Secretary does rescind his visa… if she does, the issue is over.”
West subsequently issued his own statement offering to meet Jewish groups in London, saying: “I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in London 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.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), a leading UK charity, previously said “we will play no part” in West’s offer to meet the Jewish community. In light of him now being banned from the country, they added: “The Government has clearly made the right decision here. For once, when it 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. Wireless Festival, in its desperate quest for profit, defended the invitation until the end. That is shameful, and its sponsors should continue to stay away,” they concluded.
In a further statement released after it emerged that Wireless had been cancelled, the CAA said: “With no headliner and multiple sponsors dropping out, Wireless has had to cancel the festival. How did it come to this? Apparently ‘no concerns were highlighted’ about Kanye West at the time of the booking. Who were they consulting? A wall? That’s what happens when the only stakeholders you speak to are those who stand to make a profit.”
They added: “It’s nice that now Wireless is saying ‘Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent’ when just a few hours ago the festival promoter was saying we all need to forgive Kanye for declaring himself a full-blown Nazi only recently. There are plenty of musicians in the world who could have headlined this festival and brought delight to thousands of fans. Maybe next time organisers should look beyond Nuremberg to fill their roster.”
The charity previously told Far Out when the initial announcement was made of West headlining Wireless, “Kanye West has dedicated years of his life to trying to incite his followers to hate Jews. He has more followers than there are Jews on Earth, so his incitement has a huge impact. His cycle of apology and relapse has become a routine, so as with any addict once again we must wait to see if this time is any different.”
As a result of West headlining Wireless, a number of the festival’s sponsors had already distanced themselves from supporting the event, including Pepsi, Diageo, and PayPal. It was also exclusively confirmed to Far Out that Rockstar Energy would be removing its sponsorship.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.