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![\"Tampa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/9bb66939e9f91fad0d87900771831ab3_APTOPIX_Cubs_Rays_Baseball_64_65.jpg.webp.webp\")
<\/p>\nTampa Bay Rays pitcher Bryan Baker reacts after closing out the Chicago Cubs during the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, April 6, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo\/Chris O’Meara)<\/p>\n
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Country musician Eric Church sings the National Anthem before a baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Chicago Cubs Monday, April 6, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo\/Chris O’Meara)<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n LONDON (AP) \u2014 The rapper formerly known as Kanye West has been barred from entering the U.K., where he was scheduled to perform at the Wireless Festival in July.<\/p>\n It came after government officials condemned Ye’s history of antisemitic remarks.<\/p>\n The festival\u2019s organizers confirmed the ban and said the entire three-day festival was being canceled as a result.<\/p>\n Ye\u2019s travel authorization had been blocked on the grounds that the performer\u2019s presence in the U.K. would not be \u201cconducive to the public good,” the BBC said, citing the Home Office.<\/p>\n Ye was booked to perform in front of around 150,000 revelers July 10-12 at the open-air festival in London\u2019s Finsbury Park.<\/p>\n THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP\u2019s earlier story follows below.<\/p>\n LONDON (AP) \u2014 A senior member of the British government said Tuesday that Ye should \u201cabsolutely not\u201d play the Wireless Festival as the performer offered to meet members of the U.K.\u2019s Jewish community and show he has changed since provoking outrage with antisemitic statements.<\/p>\n U.K. authorities are considering whether to ban the rapper formerly known as Kanye West from entering Britain, where he is booked to perform in front of around 150,000 revelers July 10-12 at the open-air festival in London\u2019s Finsbury Park.<\/p>\n \u201cHis permission to enter the U.K. is under review as we speak,” said Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman, Tom Wells. \u201cAll options remain on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n Organizers are under mounting pressure from sponsors and politicians to cancel the gigs by the rapper, who has drawn widespread condemnation for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.<\/p>\n Last year, he released a song called \u201cHeil Hitler\u201d and advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. The 48-year-old apologized in January with a letter, published as a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. He said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into \u201ca four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Wireless sponsors Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo have pulled out of the festival since Ye was announced as the headliner, and Starmer called the booking \u201cdeeply concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement Tuesday, Ye, who changed his name in 2021, said he \u201cwould be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the U.K. in person, to listen.<\/p>\n \u201cI know words aren\u2019t enough \u2014 I\u2019ll have to show change through my actions,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re open, I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the group would be willing to meet with the musician if he pulled out of the festival.<\/p>\n \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,\u201d Rosenberg said.<\/p>\n Organizer Festival Republic stood by Ye. In a statement issued Monday, managing director Melvin Benn urged people to offer the performer \u201cforgiveness and hope.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not 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 the statement said.<\/p>\n U.K. Health Secretary Wes Streeting dismissed the organizers\u2019 statement as \u201cabsurd\u201d and said Ye should \u201cabsolutely not\u201d perform at Wireless.<\/p>\n Benn acknowledged that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had the power to revoke Ye’s visa to come to Britain.<\/p>\n \u201cIf she does, she does, and then the issue is over,\u201d he told the BBC on Tuesday.<\/p>\n A representative for Ye didn\u2019t reply to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
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