The Pop Corporation

The sponsors were pulling out, and the government were getting involved, so it isn’t surprising that the Kanye three night headliner set has seen Wireless Festival be fully cancelled.

The UK government were talking about whether or not the artist would be allowed in the country, and have now fully blocked Kanye West’s travel to our shores.

This followed a huge amount of backlash about these shows, and in a statement, promoter Festival Republic said: “The Home Office has withdrawn Ye’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom.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.”

This references Kanye’s statement where he said: “my only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music. I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen.”

Alas, these words don’t address the numerous instances where Kanye has caused trouble (that’s putting it mildly), as he’s been accused of antisemitic behaviour with former staff, made incredibly offensive remarks online and in interviews, been dropped by numerous brands, telling Jewish people that they should “forgive Hitler”, declared that he was a “Nazi”, solid Swastika shirts, shared similar artwork for his latest album ‘Bully’, released a song called ‘Heil Hitler’ and so much more.

Previously Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic said Ye “intended to come in and perform”, adding that organisers were “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”.

Unfortunately, given someone a microphone, a stage, and a huge audience, is literally giving someone a platform, so this reasoning is mealy-mouthed at best.

Either way, if West is sincere, he’s going to have to do more than a couple of statements. If we can see culpability, we may see him on our shores again – but until then, it’s looking like it isn’t happening.