The Sun<\/a>reported. <\/p>\nSponsors including Pepsi had already started abandoning the music event. Actor and Friends star David Schwimmer praised the big firms for fleeing.<\/p>\n
West visa cancelled, festival cancelled<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Wireless organiser Festival Republic confirmed the popular event had been cancelled altogether following the Government\u2019s decision on West.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Festival Republiuc said: \u201cThe Home Office has withdrawn (West\u2019s UK travel authorisation), denying him entry into the United Kingdom\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, Wireless Festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticketholders.<\/p>\n
The organisers said they had consulted \u201cmultiple stakeholders\u201d before making West the lead act \u201cand no concerns were highlighted at the time\u201d.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnti-Semitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had,\u201d the statement from the organisers continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Ye (West\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
UK PM: West \u2018Should never have been invited\u2019<\/p>\n
Posting on social media after the announcement, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said West \u201cshould never have been invited\u201d to headline the festival.<\/p>\n
He wrote: \u201cThis government stands firmly with the Jewish community and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of anti-Semitism\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wireless tickets can cost around $267 for single-day passes and a full weekend costing roughly $687.<\/p>\n
Furious fans had taken to social media.<\/p>\n
One fumed: \u201cIf Kanye ain\u2019t playing, I ain\u2019t paying.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the only name specified on the release and as a headliner, no-one else was named.<\/p>\n
\u201cTickets were sold specifically and were bought specifically for him to perform.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another chimed in: \u201cMaybe that will teach them and others how a missed opportunity of getting a big artist on stage can backfire when it becomes political.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sponsors drop festival ahead of cancellation<\/p>\n
West has previously sold swastika T-shirts \u2014 and been pictured wearing them \u2014 and his song Heil Hitler, released last year, glorified the Nazi leader.<\/p>\n
Major sponsors \u2013 including Pepsi and PayPal \u2013 had pulled out after he was announced at the headliner.<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s Campaign Against anti-Semitism said the Government \u201chas clearly made the right decision\u201d in blocking West.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor once, when it said that anti-Semitism has no place in the UK, it backed up its words with action,\u201d a spokesman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWireless Festival, in its desperate quest for profit, defended the invitation until the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is shameful, and its sponsors should continue to stay away.\u201d<\/p>\n
West offer to meet Jewish groups rejected<\/p>\n
Speaking out amid the backlash, West had previously offered to meet with British Jewish community groups ahead of his shows at the festival.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cMy only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know words aren\u2019t enough \u2013 I\u2019ll have to show change through my actions. If you\u2019re open, I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the Jewish Leadership Council branded his Wireless Festival booking \u201cdeeply irresponsible\u201d and said it would not be meeting the rapper.<\/p>\n
In a statement, it said: \u201cKanye West\u2019s recent history of vile anti-Semitism was fully known to the festival organisers when they invited him\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow with the entirely predictable backlash they are facing, the British Jewish community is being asked to help save their festival.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Mr Rosenberg said: \u201cThe 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Actor David Schwimmer said \u201cIt\u2019s great to see companies with moral clarity,\u201d of the sponsors that had abandoned the festival. <\/p>\n
\u201cUnlike Wireless and Festival Republic, they decided not to platform an artist who became one of the most recognisable hatemongering bigots in the world \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Schwimmer said the timing of an apology for his behaviour West took out in a US newspaper was \u201cperhaps part of a PR scheme to assuage folks right before his long-planned return to the stage\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cRemember: Ye\u2019s apologised before, only to retract that apology and double down on his virulent hatred of Jewish people\u201d.<\/p>\n
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