LONDON (AP) 鈥� The rapper formerly known as was barred Tuesday from entering the U.K., where he was scheduled to headline the in July, after a backlash over Ye’s history of antisemitic remarks.
Festival organizers canceled the three-day outdoor event as a result of the travel ban and said those who had bought tickets would get refunds.
Ye applied for an electronic travel authorization to visit the U.K., but it was blocked by the government on the grounds that his presence in the country would not be 鈥渃onducive to the public good.鈥�
鈥淜anye West should never have been invited to headline Wireless,鈥� Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement posted on social media. 鈥淭his 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.鈥�
The rapper, who changed his name in 2021, had been expected to play his first U.K. dates for more than a decade in front of around 150,000 revelers over three nights July 10-12 at the Wireless Festival, in London鈥檚 Finsbury Park. Other acts for the festival had not yet been announced.
The event’s organizers had been under mounting pressure from sponsors and politicians to cancel the gigs by the rapper, who has drawn for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.
Last year, Ye released a song called 鈥淗eil Hitler鈥� and advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. Officials in Australia canceled the musician’s visa in July after the release of the single.
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 鈥渁 four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.鈥�
Wireless sponsors Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo since Ye was announced as the headliner.
In a statement issued Tuesday before his travel authorization was revoked, Ye said he 鈥渨ould be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the U.K. in person, to listen.
鈥淚 know words aren鈥檛 enough 鈥� I鈥檒l have to show change through my actions,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e open, I鈥檓 here.鈥�
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, had said the group would be willing to meet with the musician if he pulled out of the festival.
鈥淭he 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,鈥� Rosenberg said.
Organizer Festival Republic had stood by Ye. In a statement issued Monday, managing director Melvin Benn urged people to offer the performer 鈥渇orgiveness and hope.鈥�
鈥淲e 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,鈥� the statement said.
Announcing the cancellation, Festival Republic said that 鈥渕ultiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time.
鈥淎ntisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognize the real and personal impact these issues have had,鈥� it said in a statement. 鈥淎s 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 U.K.鈥�
The Community Security Trust, which works to protect British Jews, said the government had made the right decision.
鈥淎nti-Jewish hatred should have no place in society and cultural leaders have a role to play in ensuring that is the case,鈥� it said in a statement.
鈥淧eople who show genuine and meaningful remorse for previous antisemitic behavior will always receive a sympathetic hearing from the Jewish community, but that process must come before this kind of public rehabilitation.鈥�
A representative for Ye didn鈥檛 reply to a request for comment.
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