Wireless didn’t just book a Nazi. It exposed the rot in Britain’s music industry

None of this had to happen.

Nobody forced one of the UK’s largest festivals to decide to pick Kanye West as their headline act. No one made them fail to release any comment about it for a week, as anger grew and as sponsors started bailing out. And the director of the company which operates the festival, Melvin Benn, didn’t have to then release a tone-deaf, condescending statement in which he attempted to prove his bona fides by describing his work on a Kibbutz half a century ago and encouraging people to “reflect” on “forgiveness and giving people a second chance.”

Still, thanks to the Wireless Festival, scholars finally have the answer to that long-debated question: “Is it wise to invite someone who has repeatedly described himself as a Nazi to perform on stage in front of tens of thousands in a North London Park?”

The government’s decision to ban the highly controversial rapper from entering the country is the right move. But it has also effectively enabled the UK’s music industry to dodge the larger question – how, particularly in the current climate of hate in this country, was a decision to book someone with a long history of antisemitic statements deemed acceptable?

 It has been less than a year since Kanye West declared himself to be a Nazi – again, after engaging in similar behaviour in 2022. In 2025 his activities included selling merchandise on his website featuring swastikas, publishing a video of himself wearing a diamond encrusted swastika chain while standing with America’s most infamous far-right social media influencer, Nick Fuentes, and releasing songs called “Heil Hitler” and “Gas Chamber”. Yet in a statement after the government’s visa ban decision in which Wireless announced that the festival in its entirety was now cancelled, the organisers claimed that “multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time”. This incredibly revealing claim implies that no-one involved in the decision-making process saw fit to ask any Jewish person whether this was a good idea.

Mr Benn’s behaviour is not entirely surprising. Speaking in the wake of one of Ireland’s largest music festivals last year, also organised by his company, he described how seeing Kneecap perform was “a very special moment”, with the band personally thanking him on stage for allowing them to comment politically.

Thanks to the Wireless Festival, scholars finally have the answer to that long-debated question: “Is it wise to invite someone who has repeatedly described himself as a Nazi to perform on stage in front of tens of thousands in a North London Park?

“You know, it’s different in the UK, there I’ve had to spend time in their dressing room reading them the riot act about what they can and can’t say in England. But of course, those restrictions are not here in Ireland and it’s wonderful”, Benn told a music magazine. This at the time that the Belfast band were under investigation by UK counterterror police for alleged support for Hezbollah.

At this point we should add that Benn was a director of Glastonbury Festival for more than a decade, chair of the board of directors of Wembley Stadium for five years and currently sits as a representative on the Concert Promoters Association (CPA). He is a central part of the UK’s music establishment – and it is not unreasonable to assume his deeply troubling mindset is therefore widely shared.

This week, we ran a piece from Jewish DJ Howard Kay, talking about the abuse he receives in the UK for wearing a Star of David. “I get targeted for wearing a necklace. He gets a three-night headline slot”, Kaye writes.

“I have to file police reports just to do my job. He gets celebrated in front of 150,000 people. I am not saying this because I want those things. I am saying it because in what world does that make any sense?”

Kaye is right – it makes no sense. And unless the UK music industry is made to answer some hard questions, there is no indication that this deeply disturbing situation will improve.