Warning: This article contains discussion of antisemitism which some readers may find distressing.
Kanye West will headline all three nights of Wireless Festival in the UK, a move that has shocked people around the world.
Kanye West, now known as Ye, is set to return to the UK stage for the first time in a decade when he tops the bill at Wireless Festival this summer. His last UK festival headline appearance came at Wireless in 2014, but the announcement has prompted widespread criticism because of his behaviour and public statements in recent years.
The 48-year-old has faced backlash after being photographed in swastika T-shirts, referring to himself as a Nazi, and releasing a track titled ‘Heil Hitler’.
Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the UK government should consider ‘blocking him from entering the country’.
Should West end up being refused entry, it would not be unprecedented, as previous performances and planned appearances have been cancelled or blocked in other countries.
Last year, West was barred from entering Australia, where relatives of his wife, Bianca Censori, live.
Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke explained: “[West] has been coming to Australia for a long time… and he’s made a lot of offensive comments.
“But my officials looked at it again once he released the Heil Hitler song, and he no longer has a valid visa in Australia.”
Elsewhere, West had also been due to perform at the end of May last year at Munhak Stadium in Incheon, Seoul. The event was called off by South Korean e-commerce company Coupang, which said the decision was made ‘due to recent controversies involving the artist’, according to a statement.
The company did not specify what the controversies were, though the cancellation followed the release of the song ‘Heil Hitler’.
Despite that cancellation, he has not been banned from entering South Korea.
In Brazil, São Paulo Mayor Ricardo Nunes released a statement ahead of a show West had planned in the city on November 29 last year.
A report by Metrópoles said the State Public Prosecutor’s Office in São Paulo (MPSP) intended to have riot police available during the event, with officers instructed to arrest the rapper ‘if he sings a song or makes any kind of apology for Nazism’.
Nunes said: “No one who promotes Nazism will play or sing any words on public equipment belonging to the City Hall.”
The performance was later cancelled, although there has been no suggestion that West has been barred from entering Brazil going forward.
Commenting on Wireless Festival’s decision to book West, Phil Rosenberg said: “We’re in this moment of really high levels of antisemitism. So to have someone whose recent track record is, as you said, declaring himself a Nazi, putting out a song called ‘Heil Hitler’, seems to be absolutely the wrong decision and many Jewish people will worry that that will just inflame what is already a very febrile situation.”
West issued an apology for previous antisemitic remarks several months ago, saying they were made during a bipolar episode.
Rosenberg added: “I’m very sympathetic to the challenges he has with mental health and bipolar disorder. But the challenge is maybe he’s not in complete control of his ability to do those things.
“And we’re really worried that on stage at the Wireless Festival, he’ll suddenly come out with more of these things. And the organisers really need to think carefully about this.”
London Mayor Saqid Khan also commented after the headline slot was announced, saying: “We are clear that the past comments and actions of this artist are offensive and wrong, and are simply not reflective of London’s values.”