UK Government Bans Kanye West, Triggering Wireless Festival Collapse

The drama surrounding London’s Wireless Festival and headliner Kanye “Ye” West exploded Tuesday, with the music festival canceled and Britain’s prime minister blasting the rapper for spreading antisemitic “poison.”

Festival organizers issued a statement on social media April 7, saying the event would no longer take place after headliner Ye was banned from entering the U.K. amid backlash over his past statements.

“As a result of the Home Office banning Ye from entering the United Kingdom, Wireless Festival has been forced to cancel,” the statement read. “All ticket holders will receive an automatic full refund.”

Ye had been booked to headline all three days of the festival from July 10-12. But the booking started to draw scrutiny on Sunday when U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told The Sun it was “deeply concerning” that the rapper would be headlining the event.

As Starmer’s statements went viral, main sponsor Pepsi announced it was dropping out of the event. “Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival,” the company said Sunday.

Other high-profile sponsors followed Pepsi’s lead and backed out of the event, including Rockstar Energy, Diageo and PayPal.

In January, Ye took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal and apologized to the Jewish and Black communities for “reckless” remarks, including praising Adolf Hitler, releasing a song called “Heil Hitler,” and saying slavery was a “choice.”

Wireless Festival boss Melvin Benn issued a statement overnight, defending Ye and noted that the rapper had apologized for his past comments.

“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,” Benn said Tuesday. “Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue.”

A short time later, the British government announced it would block Ye from entering the country to perform in the festival.

Starmer confirmed the ban in a statement on social media, praising the British government and blasting the festival.

“Kanye West should never have been invited to headline Wireless. This government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of antisemitism,” Starmer said. “We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.”

Ye headlined a two-night comeback concert series last week at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, just outside Los Angeles.

He performed several songs from his new album Bully, and was joined on stage by Lauryn Hill, CeeLo Green and Travis Scott.

The stadium seats 70,000 and both shows were sold out. Sources close to the production told Bloomberg the rapper earned about $33 million from the two concerts.

Wireless Festival had expected to draw a total 150,000 music fans.