Kanye West Poland gig cancelled after government backlash: “We cannot pretend that this is just entertainment”
It came after the country’s Culture Minister, Marta Cienkowska, condemned the rapper, arguing that his history of offensive remarks should bar him from performing in a nation “scarred by the history of the Holocaust”.
“We cannot pretend that this is just entertainment,” Cienkowska said. “We are talking about an artist who has publicly made anti-Semitic remarks, relativised crimes, and profited from selling T-shirts with a swastika. These are not ‘controversies.’ This is a deliberate crossing of a boundary and a normalisation of hate.”
Kanye West Postpones Marseille Concert After France Considers Banning Him From Entry.Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, took to X on Tuesday night to announce that he has postponed his upcoming concert in Marseille, after the office of French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed it was exploring paths to ban him from performing in France’s oldest city.
Nazi rapper was set to headline event scheduled for July. Organizers of the Wireless Festival announced on Tuesday that promoters had to pull the plug on the event, and said ticket holders will receive an automatic refund.
West, who changed his name to Ye, was scheduled to perform on all three nights of the festival, which was set to take place at Finsbury Park, London from July 10 to 12.
An estimated 150,000 attendees were expected at the event.
British PM says he ‘should never have been invited’
The rapper’s appearance at the festival was criticized by U.K. officials and Jewish organizations, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer weighing in over the weekend.
The events’ major sponsors, Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo had pulled out of the festival since Ye was announced as the headliner.
In a statement to the U.K. Sun on Sunday, Starmer said it was “deeply concerning” that the 48-year-old rapper had been booked to perform “despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.”
The U.K. Home office told the BBC that Ye had made an application to travel to the country on Monday via an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) but it was blocked by the government on the grounds that his presence in the country would not be conducive to the public good.
“Kanye West should never have been invited to headline Wireless,” Starmer said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday. “This government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of antisemitism. We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.”
Rapper’s Nazi references drew backlash
Last year, Ye went on an antisemitic tirade on X, calling himself a Nazi and praising Hitler. He also advertised a T-shirt with a swastika for sale on his online shop and released a song titled Heil Hitler.
