Nightclub hosts disgraced rapper Wiley despite calls for cancellation
Switch in Preston ignored calls to cancel concert by the rapper who was banned from social media and lost his recording deal over series of virulently racist comments last year.
Disgraced grime artist Wiley performed at a nightclub in Preston last Saturday, despite the club having been urged to cancel his performance.
The rapper, who was banned from social media and lost his recording deal over a series of virulent antisemitic posts and videos last year, appeared at Switch in Preston as part of the University of Central Lancashire’s (UCLAN) freshers’ week.
On its Facebook page, the nightclub wrote: “O.M.G Wiley tonight was on [fire emojis]”.
Last month Wiley, whose real name is Richard Cowie, was charged with burglery and assault over an incident at the home of former kickboxer
Ali Jacko.
Wiley was due to appear at London’s Thames magistrates’ court on 27 September, but he did not show up. The district judge issued a warrant to arrest and bring him to court.
In July last year, Wiley engaged in days of online hate, during which he accused Jewish people of being “racist” and “cowards”, and asked if it was antisemitic “to say Jewish people have power”.
In another tweet he said: “If you work for a company owned by 2 Jewish men and you challenge the Jewish community in any way of course you will get fired”.
Condemning Wiley’s appearance, the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) said it was “disgusted” with the decision.
“It is appalling that Switch Preston decided to go ahead with this event, despite outrage from Jewish students over Wiley’s previous antisemitic comments. The club were fully aware of Wiley’s antisemitic conduct, yet arrogantly decided to host this event regardless. This is unacceptable and demonstrates that the safety and wellbeing of Jewish students is of lower importance to them than an event with “one of the BIGGEST recording artists to ever grace the Switch stage.”
In a statement before the event, UCLan said: “Although the event is promoted as a UCLan Freshers event neither the university or the Students’ Union has any involvement in planning, delivering or promoting of this event.
“We condemn all forms of antisemitism and given the previous actions of Wiley, which include a series of antisemitic social media posts, we strongly encourage Switch to cancel this event and reconsider any further ties with Wiley and his management.”
Switch Nightclub has been approached for comment. It posted a video of Wiley performing on Facebook:
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