Kanye West has been blocked from coming to the UK to perform at the Wireless Festival and the three-day event in London cancelled.
The Government refused the controversial rapper entry on the grounds that his “presence would not be conducive to the public good”.
West, also known as Ye, had made an application to travel to the UK via an Electronic Travel Authorisation.
But the Government stepped in to deny him an ETA, stopping him from being able to come to Britain, after days of criticism over him being named as the headline act at the festival.
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."
West had been set to play to 150,000 people as the main act on three consecutive days.
But shortly after the news he had been blocked from entering the UK broke, the festival organisers Festival Republic said the event due to be held in Finsbury Park in July had been axed.
The cancellation came soon after the pre-sale tickets for the event sold out in under an hour on Tuesday.
In a statement Festival Republic said: “The Home Office has withdrawn YE's ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom.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.”
The US rapper had earlier sought to defend his planned headlining of the music festival, saying he wanted to bring “unity, peace and love” to London.
But a Cabinet minister rejected West’s statement and said he should not be performing at the festival.
“This is someone who wrote, recorded and released a song called Heil Hitler...who plastered that slogan across T-shirts and has done so with his enormous fame, influence and reach at a time when there are rising levels of antisemitism in this country and many others,” Health Secretary Wes Streeting told ITV’s Good Morning Britain.
“Against that backdrop, to put out a mealy-mouthed, self-serving statement about love, unity, hope and change, I’m sorry, ‘get real’.
“In order to earn forgiveness you have to do it through actions not words and he should have been doing that well ahead of trying to get back on a stage again.”
Speaking before West was denied an ETA, Mr Streeting, MP for Ilford North, said it was “appalling” that he might be given such a prominent role and accused the festival’s promoters of putting “money before morals”.
But responding to the backlash, the singer insisted: “My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace and love through my music”.
He added: “I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen.
"I know words aren't enough - I'll have to show change through my actions.
"If you're open, I'm here."
The promoter of Wireless Festival claimed West had a "legal right to come into the country and to perform" following the calls for him to be barred from entering the UK over antisemitism.
The musician, also known as Ye, has drawn widespread criticism in recent years after he began voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler and made a series of antisemitic remarks, for which he issued an apology in January.
Sir Keir hit out at the music festival for allowing West to headline, saying it was “deeply concerning” that the musician has been booked.
Breaking his silence on the controversy, Melvin Benn, managing director at Festival Republic which promotes Wireless Festival, described himself as a "deeply committed anti-fascist" and "person of forgiveness".
Mr Benn condemned West’s “abhorrent” remarks about Jewish people and Hitler, but asked people to “offer some forgiveness and hope” to the rapper.
He added: "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.”
But the Campaign Against Antisemitism said there was a “clear case” to ban West from entering the UK.
The campaign group made the demand as MPs also said the Home Office should prevent the controversial rapper from entering the country to headline the festival this summer due to his previous antisemitic comments.
Diageo has joined Pepsi in withdrawing sponsorship of the festival over the organisers’ decision to book the rapper to headline the event. Rockstar Energy has also withdrawn its sponsorship, Sky News reported.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp had urged the Government to stop him from entering the country.
The senior conservative MP said the musician’s comments were “not a one-off lapse, but a pattern of behaviour that has caused real offence and distress to Jewish communities”.
Soft drinks giant Pepsi was the main sponsor of the festival, promoting the event under the branding "Pepsi presents Wireless".
But on Sunday a Pepsi spokesperson confirmed "Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival."
Then on Sunday evening it was joined by Diageo, owner of spirits Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan, with a spokeperson saying: “We have informed the organisers of our concerns and as it stands, Diageo will not sponsor the 2026 Wireless festival.”
Sky News also reported that it is understood PayPal, a payment partner for the festival, will not appear in any future promotional materials.
London’s Wireless Festival is the UK’s largest rap, hip-hop and R&B music festival, attracting around 50,000 revellers per day.
It has booked West, 48, at a time of growing antisemitism in the UK and when London’s Jewish community has been on high alert following a major arson attack on four ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer organisation Hatzola in Golders Green on March 23.
Last year, West released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.
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.
A man arrested at the court on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life and has since been bailed to a date in May.
In October last year, two men were killed in an attack on a Manchester synagogue.
Jewish community organisations also called for the Wireless Festival to think again about allowing West to headline.
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said it was “absolutely the wrong decision” to allow West to play.
The musician apologised in January for his antisemitic remarks in a letter published as a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal.
In his letter, he apologised to Jewish and black people, and 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”.
