Pressure Mounts On UK Government To Ban Ye After Festival Backlash
LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) – The British government was under mounting pressure on Monday to prevent U.S. rapper Kanye West, who was chosen to headline July’s Wireless Rap and hip-hop music festival, from entering the country.
West, now known as Ye, has been criticized in the past for his antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism, which led to his social media accounts being banned, including X, on multiple occasions.
The decision to book Ye led many companies to withdraw their sponsorship of the festival, while the main opposition Conservative Party wrote to Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood, urging her to ban him from coming to the UK.
Asked for comment, an Interior Ministry source said ministers were reviewing permission to enter the country.
The Home Office does not usually comment on individual cases, but Mahmood has the power to personally request your exclusion from the UK. In January, the ministry revoked the electronic travel permit of Dutch far-right activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek on the grounds that she was spreading false information.
Melvin Benn, chief executive of Festival Republic, one of the organisers, defended the decision to headline the event despite his “disgusting” comments, and called on the public to ask for his forgiveness.
While on stage, Benn said Ye would not be given “a platform to promote his ideas.” He added that Ye’s music was played on commercial radio stations in the country and was made available “without anyone’s comment or criticism” through live streams and downloads, and that he had the “legal right to come to the country and perform.”
“Forgiveness and giving people second chances is becoming a lost virtue in an increasingly divisive world, and I implore people to consider their immediate comments of disgust at the prospect of him performing and offer him some forgiveness and hope, as I have decided to do,” Benn added.
Live Nation, the festival’s other organizer, and Ye’s representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Jewish Leadership Council last week condemned organizers for booking Ye following an increase in attacks on Jewish people and Jewish targets.
‘DEEPLY INTERESTING’
Prime Minister Keir Starmer also described the decision to book Ye for the London festival as “deeply concerning”.
“Anti-Semitism in all its forms is abhorrent and must be harshly opposed wherever it appears,” Starmer said in comments first reported by the Sun on Sunday.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure.”
A spokesman for London mayor Sadiq Khan said the rapper’s comments did not reflect the values of the city and that the decision was made by festival organisers. Australia canceled the rapper’s visa last July after he released the song “Heil Hitler” supporting Nazism. The ban came several months after Ye advertised the sale of swastika T-shirts on his website. Ye took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal in January to apologize for his anti-Semitic remarks, attributing his behavior to an undiagnosed brain injury and an untreated bipolar disorder. He also apologized for expressing his admiration for Adolf Hitler in the past and for the use of swastika imagery.
The 48-year-old has not performed in England since taking over at Glastonbury in 2015.
Beverage companies Diageo and long-time sponsor Pepsi said they were withdrawing their support for the Wireless event over the decision to invite Ye. Pepsi’s owner, PepsiCo, also confirmed that it was withdrawing sponsorship of the Rockstar Energy brand.
A spokesperson for PayPal told Reuters on Monday that its branding would not appear in any future Wireless festival promotional materials.
(Reporting by Suban Abdulla; additional reporting by Natalia Bueno Rebolledo; Editing by Gareth Jones, Rod Nickel)
