Kanye West concert cancelled by Polish government: “We cannot pretend that this is just entertainment”
After postponing a concert in Marseille, Kanye West has found his planned performance in Poland cancelled following governmental backlash to his anti-semitic comments.
As per The Independent, the managers of Slaski stadium in Chorzow, western Poland, have newly decided to pull the plug on the concert slated for June 19th.
This comes after the country’s culture minister condemned the artist and argued his past antisemitic remarks should disqualify him from performing in a nation “scarred by the history of the Holocaust.”
Stadium director Adam Strzyzewski elaborated in a statement on Facebook that the concert will not “take place due to formal and legal reasons”.
Preceding this, Polish Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska said on April 16th of the concert, “We cannot pretend that this is just entertainment”.
Cienkowska continued, “We are talking about an artist who has publicly made antisemitic remarks, relativised crimes, and profited from selling T-shirts with a swastika. These are not ‘controversies.’ This is a deliberate crossing of a boundary and a normalisation of hate.”
She concluded, “Culture cannot be a space for those who use it to spread contempt.”
West is still set to launch his European tour, which will begin on May 23rd in New Delhi in support of his new album, Bully.
Earlier this month, the rapper was denied a UK visa, leading to the cancellation of his three-day headline appearance at London’s Wireless Festival. Subsequently, the entire festival was cancelled.
West’s upcoming performance in Marseille at the Stade Velodrome on June 11th has also been pulled. West released a statement insisting that he was the “sole” decision-maker in that instance.
He added, “I know it takes time to understand the sincerity of my commitment to make amends. I take full responsibility for what’s mine, but I don’t want to put my fans in the middle of it.”
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