Permission for racist rapper Kanye West to enter UK ‘under review’
Major sponsors including Pepsi have withdrawn their support for the festival over the booking
The Government is reviewing if antisemitic musician Kanye West will be allowed to enter the UK to perform at Wireless Festival.
The rapper is set to top the bill for all three nights of the festival in London’s Finsbury Park in July.
Sir Keir Starmer has criticised the decision as “deeply concerning”, while major sponsors have withdrawn their support for the festival over the booking.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood now faces calls from politicians and the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) to ban West from coming to the UK, arguing his presence would not be “conducive to the public good”.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said West was “guilty of appalling antisemitic and pro-Nazi comments” as he urged Ms Mahmood to use her powers under the Immigration Act to refuse him a visa.
He said: “She says she wants to fight antisemitism. We will now find out how serious she really is.”
In a post on X, the CAA said the Prime Minister had been right to express concern about Wireless’s decision to book West, but added Sir Keir was “not a bystander”.
They said: “The Government can ban anyone from entering the UK who is not a citizen and whose presence would ‘not be conducive to the public good’. Surely this is a clear case.”
Labour backbencher Rachael Maskell has also called for West to be banned, saying he “should not be allowed to come to our country to perform in the light of the antisemitic comments that he has made and recorded”.
Pepsi and Diageo withdrew their sponsorship of the festival after West was announced as the headline act but the brands remain prominently displayed as sponsors on Wireless Festival’s official website.
Additionally PayPal, which is a payment partner for the annual rap and hip-hop festival, will not appear in any of its future promotional materials, the Press Association understands.
West, who has not performed in the UK since he headlined Glastonbury in 2015, has drawn widespread criticism in recent years after he began voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler, and has made a series of antisemitic remarks.
Last year, he released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.
The musician, also known as Ye, has been barred from X over antisemitism on multiple occasions.
It is understood that the Mayor of London’s office refused permission for the London Stadium, in Stratford, to stage a Kanye West concert this summer, with sources citing community concerns and the reputational impact on the city.
The Home Office has been approached for comment.
The 48-year-old rapper’s scheduled appearance comes amid fears of growing antisemitism in the UK.
In March, four ambulances from a Jewish community-run service were set on fire in north-west London.
Two men and a 17-year-old boy were remanded in custody on Saturday after appearing in court accused of torching the vehicles.
In October last year, two men were killed in an attack on a Manchester synagogue.
Jewish community organisations have criticised the festival, with Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews calling it the “wrong decision” and called on the Government to consider barring him from entering the country.
In January, West took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal to apologise, titled: “To Those I’ve Hurt.”
“I am not a Nazi or an antisemite,” it said. “I love Jewish people.”
In his letter, he said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month-long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour that destroyed my life”.
Wireless Festival has been contacted for comment.
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