A major multi-day music festival been cancelled in its entirety after Kanye West was blocked from entering a European nation following days of backlash.
The UK’s Home Office on Tuesday, local time, confirmed West’s application to travel to the country had been denied amid an anti-Semitism row over his headline slot at the event.
British officials said the decision to refuse permission was made on the grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good.
The UK’s prime minister said he “should never have been invited”.
West was also blocked from entering Australia last year.
The musician was due to headline all three nights of the Wireless Festival, one of the UK’s most high profile, from July 10 to July 12 in London – playing to 150,000 people in total.
Bt critics have slammed the festival accusing it of a “desperate quest for profit” in booking West.
West had offered to meet with UK Jewish groups to try and defuse the controversy – but one major organisation flat our refused to due to what it said was West “vile” behaviour, The Sunreported.
Sponsors including Pepsi had already started abandoning the music event. Actor and Friends star David Schwimmer praised the big firms for fleeing.
West visa cancelled, festival cancelled
On Tuesday, Wireless organiser Festival Republic confirmed the popular event had been cancelled altogether following the Government’s decision on West.
In a statement, Festival Republiuc said: “The Home Office has withdrawn (West’s UK travel authorisation), denying him entry into the United Kingdom”.
“As a result, Wireless Festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticketholders.
The organisers said they had consulted “multiple stakeholders” before making West the lead act “and no concerns were highlighted at the time”.
It’s not clear who the consulted stakeholders were but UK Jewish community groups have been scathing that the US star, known for his anti-Semitism and warm words about Hitler, was even considered for the gig.
“Anti-Semitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had,” the statement from the organisers continued.
“As Ye (West’s current branding) said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and despite this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the UK.”
UK PM: West ‘Should never have been invited’
Posting on social media after the announcement, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said West “should never have been invited” to headline the festival.
He wrote: “This government stands firmly with the Jewish community and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of anti-Semitism”.
“We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.”
Wireless tickets can cost around $267 for single-day passes and a full weekend costing roughly $687.
Furious fans had taken to social media.
One fumed: “If Kanye ain’t playing, I ain’t paying.
“He was the only name specified on the release and as a headliner, no-one else was named.
“Tickets were sold specifically and were bought specifically for him to perform.”
Another chimed in: “Maybe that will teach them and others how a missed opportunity of getting a big artist on stage can backfire when it becomes political.”
Sponsors drop festival ahead of cancellation
West has previously sold swastika T-shirts — and been pictured wearing them — and his song Heil Hitler, released last year, glorified the Nazi leader.
Major sponsors – including Pepsi and PayPal – had pulled out after he was announced at the headliner.
The UK’s Campaign Against anti-Semitism said the Government “has clearly made the right decision” in blocking West.
“For once, when it said that anti-Semitism has no place in the UK, it backed up its words with action,” a spokesman said.
“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.”
West offer to meet Jewish groups rejected
Speaking out amid the backlash, West had previously offered to meet with British Jewish community groups ahead of his shows at the festival.
He said: “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.”
But the Jewish Leadership Council branded his Wireless Festival booking “deeply irresponsible” and said it would not be meeting the rapper.
In a statement, it said: “Kanye West’s recent history of vile anti-Semitism was fully known to the festival organisers when they invited him”.
“Now with the entirely predictable backlash they are facing, the British Jewish community is being asked to help save their festival.
President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Phil Rosenberg said the body was only willing to meet West if he agreed not to play the festival.
In a statement, Mr Rosenberg said: “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 this year.”
Actor David Schwimmer said “It’s great to see companies with moral clarity,” of the sponsors that had abandoned the festival.
“Unlike Wireless and Festival Republic, they decided not to platform an artist who became one of the most recognisable hatemongering bigots in the world …”
Schwimmer said the timing of an apology for his behaviour West took out in a US newspaper was “perhaps part of a PR scheme to assuage folks right before his long-planned return to the stage”.
“Remember: Ye’s apologised before, only to retract that apology and double down on his virulent hatred of Jewish people”.
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