Kanye West’s right to enter the UK is now reportedly under government review after a backlash against his booking as Wireless Festival headliner.
The controversial rapper, who now goes by Ye, has been announced as the headliner for all three nights of the festival in London’s Finsbury Park in July, with the shows having been described as a three-night journey through his “most iconic records”.
The booking has 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 anti-Semitic remarks and celebration of Nazism”.
A series of festival sponsors have now cut their ties with Wireless, including Pepsi, drinks giant Diageo, PayPal and Rockstar Energy, piling enormous pressure on the festival to take action.
Now, the BBC have reported that Ye’s right to enter the UK is now under governmental review. Ministers have the power to ban foreign nationals from entering the country if their presence is not considered “conducive to the public good”. He has already been denied entry to Australia in the past.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan is another to have spoken out against the decision, alongside groups including the Jewish Leadership Council and the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism.
This morning (April 6), Sajid David, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer and current chair of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, also condemned Wireless for booking West, and said he was “certain” the Home Secretary would stop the rapper from entering the UK if Wireless didn’t cancel the shows.
West’s history of making anti-Semitic remarks dates back to 2022, when he made a series of offensive comments on social media. Those remarks saw his accounts on both Instagram and Twitter suspended, and the musician was dropped by his lawyer, talent agency and record label, along with fashion brands such as Balenciaga and Adidas.
At first, West gave several interviews refusing to apologise for making the comments while suggesting that Jewish people should “forgive Hitler”. However, in 2023, West would deliver an apology to the Jewish community, going on to blame alcohol for his behaviour the following year.
In the wake of that initial apology, numerous lawsuits have been filed against the rapper with claims of extensive antisemitic behaviour. One former employee alleged that the rapper said Jewish people were “working together to hold him back”.
Another former employee claimed he used anti-Semitic language in the workplace and praised Hitler – something for which he allegedly paid a settlement for. In 2024, a separate ex-employee accused him of being openly anti-Semitic in front of his staff.
West would share a number of highly controversial posts in early 2025, when he took back an apology he previously made to the Jewish community for anti-Semitic remarks, and then declared himself “a Nazi”. West then claimed on X/Twitter that, “after further reflection”, he’d “come to the realisation that I’m not a Nazi”, followed only a few days later by yet more swastika apparel appearing on his X page.
West has since apologised for his actions by meeting with a rabbi and taking out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal broadcasting a separate apology.
However, he did not address the ongoing controversy while kicking off his tour earlier this week, but did tell the crowd at the SoFi Stadium: “Tonight we’re going to put all this behind us, ain’t that right LA?” on Friday (April 3).