{"id":517731,"date":"2026-04-07T14:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517731\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T14:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:20:09","slug":"wireless-festival-cancelled-after-kanye-west-banned-from-entering-uk-kanye-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517731\/","title":{"rendered":"Wireless festival cancelled after Kanye West banned from entering UK | Kanye West"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wireless music festival has been cancelled after the artist formerly known as Kanye West<\/a> was banned from entering the UK amid a deepening political row over his previous antisemitic statements.<\/p>\n

West, who is legally known as Ye, made an application to travel to the UK via an Electronic Travel Authorisation on Monday but it has been blocked by officials.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the festival confirmed it would no longer go ahead in July after the government decision was announced, and said refunds would be issued to those who had already bought tickets.<\/p>\n

The statement read: \u201cThe Home Office has withdrawn Ye\u2019s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom. As a result, Wireless festival<\/a> is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticket holders.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs with every Wireless festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time.Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is understood that the application was initially granted online but was rescinded by Home Office<\/a> ministers, after review, on the grounds that his presence in the UK would not be conducive to the public good.<\/p>\n

The rapper has been criticised for making antisemitic remarks<\/a>, including voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Last year he released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.<\/p>\n

Ye took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal in January apologising for his antisemitic behaviour and attributing his inflammatory actions to his bipolar disorder. In a statement on Tuesday, he offered to \u201cmeet and listen\u201d to members of the UK\u2019s Jewish community.<\/p>\n

Over the weekend, Keir Starmer, joined criticism of the festival, saying it was \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d that Ye had been booked to perform \u201cdespite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of nazism\u201d.<\/p>\n

The decision to ban Ye left the festival organisers Wireless with three slots to fill, with the event just three months away. The ban came on the day presales began for this summer\u2019s events, which were already competing in a busy field of London day festivals<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The organisers\u2019 approach of using one A-list name to headline three back-to-back events<\/a> meant options for a new artist were limited. Many artists will have had their summer schedule sorted months ago, so finding a replacement would have been complex.<\/p>\n

Drake performing during day three of Wireless festival 2025 in Finsbury Park. Photograph: Joseph Okpako\/WireImage<\/p>\n

On Monday evening, Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic, which promotes Wireless, said Ye \u201cintended to come in and perform\u201d, adding that organisers were \u201cnot giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions\u201d.<\/p>\n

Downing Street faced pressure on Tuesday afternoon to say whether Ye would be allowed to perform. Asked to clarify Ye\u2019s visa status at lunchtime, the prime minister\u2019s official spokesperson said: \u201cWe\u2019ve been clear that his permission to enter the UK is under review as we speak. All available options remain on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cDecisions are taken on a case-by-case basis in line with the law and the evidence available, but where individuals pose a threat to public safety or seek to spread extremism, the government has not hesitated to act, and that includes cancelling permission to enter this country for extremist preachers and far-right figures.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking before the ban was publicised, Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the group would be willing to meet Ye if he pulled out of Wireless.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been less than a year since Kanye West released a song entitled Heil Hitler, the culmination of three years of appalling antisemitism. He also made a number of deeply offensive comments about the black community, saying that the 400-year experience of slavery was \u2018like a choice\u2019,\u201d Rosenberg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven while claiming remorse today, his latest album includes a track first released last year with the abhorrent title Gas Chamber.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rapper joins a list of American cultural figures who have at times been banned from entering the UK.<\/p>\n

Snoop Dogg was denied entry in 2007 after an incident a year earlier at Heathrow, which involved members of his entourage. He had to cancel a tour with P Diddy as a result. The ban was lifted in 2008<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the same year Snoop Dogg\u2019s ban was lifted, the American television personality Martha Stewart was barred from entering the UK because of her conviction in 2004 of several offences related to an illicit share deal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tyler, the Creator was banned for four years<\/a> by then home secretary, Theresa May, in 2015 because of his lyrics. May used anti-terrorism legislation to block his entry, claiming his music \u201cencourages violence and intolerance of homosexuality\u201d and \u201cfosters hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts\u201d.<\/p>\n

The restriction was lifted in 2019, and he told the Guardian he felt as if he had \u201cwon some invisible fight<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Wireless music festival has been cancelled after the artist formerly known as Kanye West was banned from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-517731","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-great-britain","10":"tag-greatbritain","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}