{"id":570000,"date":"2026-04-07T15:30:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/570000\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T15:30:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T15:30:07","slug":"wireless-festival-canceled-after-kanye-west-blocked-from-entering-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/570000\/","title":{"rendered":"Wireless Festival Canceled After Kanye West Blocked From Entering UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tUPDATED 6:27 a.m. PT: The UK\u2019s Wireless Festival<\/a> has been canceled over the Kanye West<\/a> saga.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2018As a result of the Home Office banning Ye from entering the United Kingdom, Wireless Festival has been forced to cancel,\u201d a statement from the fest read. \u201cAll ticket holders will receive an automatic full refund.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tWest, who now goes by Ye, was due to headline Wireless in July but earlier today was blocked from entering the UK by the government over his previous antisemitic hate speech. He was last year denied a visa to enter Australia.<\/p>\n

\n\tSponsors including Pepsi and Diageo have pulled out of Wireless since the news broke last week but today\u2019s Wireless statement added that \u201cmultiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cAntisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had,\u201d added the statement. \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

\n\tUPDATED 5:42 a.m. PT: Kanye West has been blocked from traveling to the UK for a festival headline slot.<\/p>\n

\n\tWest has been refused permission for an Electronic Travel Authorisation visa due to his presence not being conducive to the public good, the Home Office told BBC News.\u00a0He was last year denied a visa to enter Australia.<\/p>\n

\n\tWest is due to headline London\u2019s Wireless Festival in July. His headline slot has sparked outrage among Jewish groups, reaching the upper echelons of UK government.<\/p>\n

\n\tPREVIOUS: A Kanye West festival appearance is causing chaos in the UK.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe controversial singer, who has been lambasted for months for antisemitic outbursts at a time of heightened tension, this morning said he \u201cwould be grateful\u201d to meet members of the Jewish community as he brings a message of \u201cchange, unity, peace, and love through my music<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe is due to headline London\u2019s Wireless Festival in a few months\u2019 time, which has caused outrage, leading to a backlash from Jewish groups and working its way up to the UK Prime Minister\u2019s office. Keir Starmer yesterday said he finds the prospect of West headlining the festival \u201cdeeply concerning,\u201d as the government reviews if West should be allowed to enter the UK. He was last year denied a Visa to enter Australia after the release of his song \u201cHeil Hitler,\u201d which was condemned and banned on multiple platforms.<\/p>\n

\n\tWest, who now goes by Ye, said he had been \u201cfollowing the conversation around Wireless and want to address it directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music,\u201d he added. \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

\n\tMelvin Benn, who runs Wireless organizer Festival Republic, has defended the decision, encouraging people to offer \u201cforgiveness.\u201d Sponsors including Pepsi and Diageo withdrew sponsorship of the fest yesterday. <\/p>\n

\n\tIn January, Ye took out an ad in\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0to plead for forgiveness after his antisemitic rampage in 2025. Ye said he suffered<\/a> a \u201cfour-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.\u201d During that period, Ye sold $20 shirts with swastikas and made numerous antisemitic posts including declaring himself to be a Nazi.<\/p>\n

\n\tLast week, Ye performed a sold-out comeback show in L.A., which drew high-profile support and plenty backlash.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UPDATED 6:27 a.m. PT: The UK\u2019s Wireless Festival has been canceled over the Kanye West saga. \u201c\u2018As a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":570001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88,4860,216,4262],"class_list":{"0":"post-570000","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-kanye-west","10":"tag-music","11":"tag-wireless-festival"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=570000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/570000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/570001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=570000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=570000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=570000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}