Keir Starmer slams ‘deeply concerning’ UK Kanye West gigs after rapper’s Nazi rants | UK | News

The Prime Minister has slammed a popular music festival after it announced Kanye West will headline this summer. Sir Keir Starmer has described the decision to book the rap star to perform at the Wireless Festival following several racist and anti-Semitic rows in recent years as “deeply worrying”.

In May last year, West released a single titled Heil Hitler and was criticized for anti-Semitic tweets and describing slavery as “a choice.” The 48-year-old actor will headline all three days of Wireless Festival, where 50,000 tickets will be available for each night between July 10-12.

The event will also be televised to millions of people around the world. Prime Minister told Sun on Sunday: “It is extremely worrying that Kanye West is performing at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic statements and celebration of Nazism.

“Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent and must be harshly opposed wherever it occurs. It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe.”

Adidas, which makes Yeezy trainers, severed ties with the Power rapper in 2022 and donated more than $150 million (£117 million) to anti-hate groups following a series of outbursts.

In one, West said he would commit “death fraud 3 against the Jewish people.”

West took out an ad in the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal to apologize for a series of statements he made about Nazis, Adolf Hitler and Jews; He said he did not want “sympathy or free passage” here and wanted to ask for forgiveness from the public.

He also apologized to the black community, saying he let them down and adding that a car accident he had 25 years ago led to him being diagnosed with bipolar.

He said: “In this broken state (of my bipolar diagnosis), I turned to the swastika, the most destructive symbol I could find, and even sold T-shirts bearing it.

“One of the difficult aspects of having bipolar type-1 is the disjointed moments that (often) feel like an out-of-body experience, leading to poor judgment and careless behavior, many of which I still cannot remember.

“I regret and am deeply ashamed of my actions in this state, and I am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. But that does not excuse my actions. I am not a Nazi or anti-Semite. I love the Jewish people.

“To the black community that held me back through all the ups and downs and darkest times. The black community is, without question, the foundation of who I am. I’m so sorry to disappoint you. I love us.”

“In early 2025, I entered a four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life. As the situation became increasingly unsustainable, there were times when I didn’t want to be here anymore.”

Holocaust Education Foundation boss Karen Pollock told the Sun on Sunday that the reservation “caused distress within the Jewish community in Britain due to its previous antisemitism and support for Hitler”.

He said: “He wrote a song called Heil Hitler. “I know he has since apologized, but if an artist had singled out another ethnic or religious group for such horrific abuse you would expect them to never perform again, let alone headline major festivals in the UK.

“Wireless should reconsider whether they want to provide a platform for this hateful antisemitism.”

The Jewish Leadership Council called his reservation “highly irresponsible.”

He added: “His latest apology must be seen in the context of selling swastika t-shirts and releasing the song Heil Hitler after apologizing previously.

The Daily Express approached Wireless Festival for comment.