London music fest cancelled after U.K. bars headliner Ye following past antisemitic remarks

Organizers for a euphony fete in john griffith chaney feature cancelled the upcoming three-day case after the rapper Ye, who was slated to perform, has been barred from entering the U.K. Following past antisemitic remarks.

The cancellation came after a number of government officials and Jewish organizations condemned the festival's choice to have Ye — who changed his name from Kanye West in 2021 —perform.

Festival organizers said Ye had been banned from entering the U.K. In their message announcing the festival cancellation on their website.

Ye had been expected to headline in front of around 150,000 revellers from July 10 to 12 in London's Finsbury Park. Organizers said anyone who bought tickets will be refunded.

Festival organizers had been under mounting pressure from sponsors and politicians to cancel the gigs by the rapper, who has drawn widespread condemnation for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

Ye released a song called Heil Hitler last year, and sold a shirt bearing a swastika for days before Shopify took down the rapper's merchandise website.

In January, the rapper took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal to apologize for past antisemitic comments. Ye attributed his behaviour to a car crash that happened 25 years ago that he says left him with traumatic injuries and contributed to his bipolar disorder.

“In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold t-shirts bearing it,” Ye wrote at the time, adding that his mental health did not "excuse what he did."

The rapper has made a number of apologies for his harmful words over the years.

In a statement issued Tuesday before his travel to the U.K. Was barred, Ye said he "would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the U.K. In person, to listen.

"I know words aren't enough — I'll have to show change through my actions," he said. "If you're open, I'm here."

Following the festival's cancellation, Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said he welcomed the government's decision to bar Ye's entry.

"Wireless has now been cancelled but it should have never reached this point," Rosenberg said in a statement. "Music festivals should be places where all communities feel welcome, not venues that platform individuals with records of profiteering from antisemitism, racism and other repulsive views."

Rosenberg had also said in a previous statement that his group was willing to meet with the rapper as part of his "journey of healing," but only if he agreed first not to play the festival.

In recent days, festival sponsors Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo pulled out of the festival since Ye was announced as the headliner.

Festival Republic, the company behind the Wireless Festival, said in a statement that multiple stakeholders were consulted before booking Ye and "no concerns were highlighted at the time."

"Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognize the real and personal impact these issues have had," the statement said.

Festival Republic had stood by Ye. In a statement to media, including the Associated Press, on Monday, managing director Melvin Benn urged people to offer the performer "forgiveness and hope."

"We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions," the statement said.

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