Kanye West has been blocked from travelling to the UK to headline Wireless Festival after a row over his antisemitic comments and growing pressure on the government to intervene.
The rapper applied to travel to the country on Monday via an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), but the Home Office stopped him because his presence in the UK would “not be conducive to the public good”, it is understood.
Shortly after, Wireless Festival said it had cancelled the three-day event, and all ticketholders would be issued a refund.
It comes after ministers and Jewish groups said organisers of the London festival should be “ashamed” for inviting the US rapper to headline all three days of the event after he made a series of antisemitic statements last year. This included releasing a song called “Heil Hitler” and advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.
Responding to the decision to block his entry into the country, the Campaign Against Antisemitism said the government “has clearly made the right decision”.
A spokesperson added: “For once, when it said that antisemitism has no place in the UK, it backed up its words with action.
“Someone who has boasted of making tens of millions of dollars from selling swastika T-shirts and who released a song called ‘Heil Hitler’ just months ago, clearly would not be conducive to the public good in the UK.
“Wireless Festival, in its desperate quest for profit, defended the invitation until the end. That is shameful, and its sponsors should continue to stay away.”
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “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.
“We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.”
As tickets for the three Finsbury Park concerts went on sale on Tuesday, West said he would like to speak directly to the UK’s Jewish community after the backlash over his behaviour.
But Jewish leaders refused to meet the rapper, with the Jewish Leadership Council telling Wireless organisers they would not help “save their festival”.
The CAA also said it would not meet with the US artist and said its members would protest at Wireless if his planned performances went ahead, as “nobody knows what might come out of Mr West’s mouth on that stage”.
However, Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the group would be willing to meet with West if he pulled out of Wireless.
Melvin Benn, managing director at Festival Republic, which promotes Wireless Festival, claimed earlier on Tuesday that West already had a visa to enter the UK for the gigs, adding it was “issued in the last few days”.
Confirming the cancellation of the festival, a spokesperson said: “The Home Office has withdrawn YE’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom. As a result, Wireless Festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticket holders.
“As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking YE, and no concerns were highlighted at the time.
“Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had. As YE said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the UK.”
Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo all withdrew their sponsorship of the festival after West was announced as the headline act, and no brands appeared as visible sponsors on Wireless Festival’s official website on Monday evening – piling pressure on the government to intervene.
PayPal, which is a payment partner for the annual rap and hip-hop festival, did not appear in any of its future promotional materials, the Press Association understands.
Earlier on Tuesday, health secretary Wes Streeting said organisers of the festival in Finsbury Park should be “ashamed” after they “showed a terrible error of judgement” by booking West to perform.
“These weren’t a couple of off-colour remarks, these were a pattern of behaviour,” he told Sky News. “The releasing of a song called ‘Heil Hitler’, the plastering of that slogan across T-shirts, then using bipolar disorder as an excuse.
“And then when he realised the impact on his fame and his career, he came out with a mealy-mouthed apology, which has now been given a fig leaf of credibility by festival organisers who should be ashamed of themselves. So I’m appalled, actually.”
A YouGov poll, which spoke to 4,385 adults on Tuesday, saw 57 per cent say West should not be allowed to enter the UK, with just 18 per cent saying he should be allowed it.
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”.
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