![\"Disgraced](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/a8370c43509070317a9615e540108c4b.jpeg\")
Disgraced hip-hop star Kanye West had been due to play three nights at the Wireless Festival in London in July as part of a European comeback tour (Hector RETAMAL) \u00b7 Hector RETAMAL\/AFP\/AFP <\/p>\n Disgraced hip-hop star Kanye West had been due to play three nights at the Wireless Festival in London in July as part of a European comeback tour (Hector RETAMAL) \u00b7 Hector RETAMAL\/AFP\/AFP <\/p>\n
The UK government on Tuesday blocked US rapper Kanye West from entering the country due to his past antisemitic outbursts, prompting organisers of a festival he was to headline to cancel the July event.<\/p>\n
The disgraced rapper had submitted Monday an application to travel to Britain, but it was refused on the grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good, a UK government source confirmed.<\/p>\n
The organisers of the Wireless Festival in London where West — now known as Ye — had been booked to play all three nights in July swiftly cancelled the event.<\/p>\n
“As a result of the Home Office banning YE from entering the United Kingdom, Wireless Festival has been forced to cancel,” organisers said on Instagram.<\/p>\n
They added all ticket holders would receive “an automatic full refund”. Tickets had only gone on sale on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Controversy around West headlining the festival grew over the weekend, with a string of the event’s sponsors pulling out, including drinks giants Pepsi and Diageo.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who on Saturday had called booking West “deeply concerning”, said Tuesday that the 48-year-old hip-hop star “should never have been invited to headline Wireless”.<\/p>\n
“This government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of antisemitism,” Starmer added on X.<\/p>\n
– ‘Poison’ –<\/p>\n
West, who last performed in Britain when he headlined the Glastonbury festival in 2015, has been heavily criticised for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.<\/p>\n
In May 2025, he released a song called “Heil Hitler”, months after advertising a swastika t-shirt for sale on his website.<\/p>\n
The song was banned by major streaming platforms.<\/p>\n
The US rapper subsequently expressed regret for his conduct, blaming it on his bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
As the row around his planned London performance heated, West had offered to meet members of Britain’s Jewish community.<\/p>\n
In an advert in the Wall Street Journal headlined “To Those I’ve Hurt”, West said his “only goal” was “to present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music”.<\/p>\n
“I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person,” the rapper added.<\/p>\n
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, welcomed the government intervention but said “the situation could and should have been resolved much earlier”.<\/p>\n
“We hope that lessons are learned across the industry,” he added.<\/p>\n
“Music festivals should be places where all communities feel welcome, not venues that platform individuals with records of profiteering from antisemitism, racism and other repulsive views.”<\/p>\n
– ‘Lessons’ –<\/p>\n
But Nigel Farage, leader of the hard-right Reform UK party and a critic of so-called cancel culture, branded such bans “a dangerous path to go down”.<\/p>\n
“If we start banning people from entering the country because we don’t like what they say, I worry where that ends up,” he said, while calling West’s past comments “really vile”.<\/p>\n
Farage has in recent months been dogged by antisemitism allegations dating back to his school days.<\/p>\n
West’s European comeback tour had already proved contentious prior to the furore in Britain.<\/p>\n
In France, the mayor of Marseille said the rapper was “not welcome” for a concert planned there in June.<\/p>\n
Londoners in Finsbury Park, where the Wireless Festival would have been staged, appeared well aware of the controversy.<\/p>\n
“It’s complicated,” filmmaker Michael Elomi-Honnas told AFP. “If you have a bipolar episode, I think you can say really horrific and crazy things.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile teacher Edith Utulu, 48, argued “they’re just blowing everything out of proportion”.<\/p>\n
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