David Schwimmer has taken to social media to publicly condemn Kanye West’s booking for London’s Wireless Festival.
The controversial rapper, also known as Ye, has a history of making anti-Semitic remarks on social media and in interviews, and issued an apology for past behaviour in January. He was announced on March 30 as the headliner for all three nights of the festival in London’s Finsbury Park in July, with the shows being described as a three-night journey through his “most iconic records”.
The announcement prompted widespread criticism, including from Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who said it is “deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism”.
The festival defended its decision, with Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic, which co-promotes Wireless alongside Live Nation, issuing a statement on the controversy, heavily criticising Ye’s historic comments but calling for “forgiveness and hope”.
Festival sponsors Pepsi, Diageo, PayPal and Rockstar Energy all withdrew their support from the event. Now, Friends star Schwimmer has shared his thoughts on the booking, beginning by thanking three former sponsors by name.
“Thanks Pepsi, PayPal & Diageo” his Instagram post begins. “It’s great to see companies with moral clarity…Unlike Wireless and Festival Republic, they decided not to platform an artist who became one of the most recognisable hate-mongering bigots in the world.”
He continued: “For years, Ye used his considerable celebrity to promote hate and violence against Jews, spreading antisemitic lies and stereotypes to his 33million followers — more than twice the number of Jewish people alive today.”
“Less than a year ago Ye released the song ‘Heil Hitler’ (rightly banned from all major streaming platforms), sold swastika T-shirts on his website, claimed he was a Nazi and threatened to kill Jews.”
“But about two months ago he professed to apologise for all that in a paid ad he took out in the Wall Street Journal — perhaps part of a PR scheme to assuage folks right before his long-planned return to the stage. Remember: Ye’s apologised before, only to retract that apology and double down on his virulent hatred of Jewish people.”
Addressing his recent US performances, he wrote: “So he’s launching a comeback, having recently played at SoFi Stadium in California… supported by Lauryn Hill, Travis Scott, CeeLo Green and Don Toliver — artists who seem to shrug off his history of rabid antisemitism. Or maybe endorse it? Hard to say, since none of them ever publicly denounced his past remarks.”
He continued: “It’s fine for his famous pals to pat him on the back and say, ‘It’s all good.’ But the community he has harmed most has no reason to trust his apology is authentic. If he was sincere, he would take action to repair the damage he caused. He could officially pull the song ‘Heil Hitler’ and explicitly, directly and publicly disavow it. He could meet with Jewish leaders or artists to have a public conversation about his rehabilitation and to make amends.”
He concluded: “An apology letter is just that: Words on paper. An advertisement, generating publicity before a concert tour. It does not erase years of abuse. I believe in forgiveness, but it takes much more than this.”
Last February, David Schwimmer called for Kanye West to be removed from social media after making anti-Semitic remarks. “We can’t stop a deranged bigot from spewing hate filled, ignorant bile… but we CAN stop giving him a megaphone, Mr. Musk” he said, addressing X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk.
Recently, West updated his apology, originally titled To Those I’ve Hurt, writing: “I know words aren’t enough – I’ll have to show change through my actions.”