Jamie Grierson, Rajeev Syat, and Lanre Bakare, "Wireless festival cancelled after Kanye West banned from entering UK"
Rapper had been booked to play at festival in London, prompting outcry over his past antisemitic remarks
The Wireless music festival has been cancelled after the artist formerly known as Kanye West was banned from entering the UK amid a deepening political row over his previous antisemitic statements.
West, who is legally known as Ye, made an application to travel to the UK via an Electronic Travel Authorisation on Monday but it has been blocked by officials.
A spokesperson for the festival confirmed it would no longer go ahead in July after the government decision was announced, and said refunds would be issued to those who had already bought tickets.
The statement read: “The Home Office has withdrawn Ye’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom.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.”
It is understood that the application was initially granted online but was rescinded by Home Office ministers, after review, on the grounds that his presence in the UK would not be conducive to the public good.
The rapper has been criticised for making antisemitic remarks, including voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler. Last year he released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.
Ye took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal in January apologising for his antisemitic behaviour and attributing his inflammatory actions to his bipolar disorder. In a statement on Tuesday, he offered to “meet and listen” to members of the UK’s Jewish community.
Over the weekend, Keir Starmer, joined criticism of the festival, saying it was “deeply concerning” that Ye had been booked to perform “despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of nazism”.
The decision to ban Ye left the Wireless organisers with three slots to fill with just three months’ notice. The ban came on the day presales began for this summer’s events, which were already competing in a busy field of London day festivals.
The organisers’ approach of using one A-list name to headline three back-to-back days meant options for a new artist were limited. Many artists will have had their summer schedule sorted months ago, so finding a replacement would have been complex.
On Monday evening, Melvin Benn, the managing director of Festival Republic, which promotes Wireless, 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”.
Downing Street faced pressure on Tuesday afternoon to say whether Ye would be allowed to perform. Asked to clarify Ye’s visa status at lunchtime, the prime minister’s official spokesperson said: “We’ve been clear that his permission to enter the UK is under review as we speak. All available options remain on the table.”
He added: “Decisions are taken on a case-by-case basis in line with the law and the evidence available, but where individuals pose a threat to public safety or seek to spread extremism, the government has not hesitated to act, and that includes cancelling permission to enter this country for extremist preachers and far-right figures.”
Speaking before the ban was publicised, Phil Rosenberg, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the group would be willing to meet Ye if he pulled out of Wireless.
“It has been less than a year since Kanye West released a song entitled Heil Hitler, the culmination of three years of appalling antisemitism. He also made a number of deeply offensive comments about the black community, saying that the 400-year experience of slavery was ‘like a choice’,” Rosenberg said.
“Even while claiming remorse today, his latest album includes a track first released last year with the abhorrent title Gas Chamber.”
The rapper joins a list of American cultural figures to have at times been banned from entering the UK.
Snoop Dogg was denied entry in 2007 after an incident a year earlier at Heathrow, which involved members of his entourage. He had to cancel a tour with P Diddy as a result. The ban was lifted in 2008.
In the same year Snoop Dogg’s ban was lifted, the television personality Martha Stewart was barred from entering the UK because of her conviction in 2004 of several offences related to an illicit share deal.
Tyler, the Creator was banned for four years in 2015 by the then home secretary, Theresa May, because of his lyrics. May used anti-terrorism legislation to block his entry, claiming his music “encourages violence and intolerance of homosexuality” and “fosters hatred with views that seek to provoke others to terrorist acts”.
The restriction was lifted in 2019, and he told the Guardian he felt as if he had “won some invisible fight”.
The Gatekeepers Close the Gates on Ye...
in order to Steer His Behaviour into Accepting Their Control Over His Lyrics & Art
"...for the Working Classes Require Management, NOT a Means Towards Self-Expression and Self-Sufficiency! THAT is the Proper Role to be Enforced by Government!" @@
Soros Realism in a Society of the Controller-Funded Spectacle
Soros Realism describes a type of post-socialist art. It was coined by Miško Šuvaković in "Ideologija izložbe: o ideologijama Manifeste" (2002) . The name comes from George Soros, who financed Soros centers for contemporary art in Eastern Europe.
Although Šuvaković did not originally use it pejoratively, its origin in Socialist Realism made it emblematic of the irony of renewed political funding of art, which censors by financing not forbidding.
...and Working to Undermine all forms of Alternative Spectacular art (and Artists) not sponsored by the financiers
10 comments:
"Ye be a Crazy Anti-Semite...." Like the Lackies Lester, and Davey!
Before the establishment of Israel, in the early 20th century, anyone that claimed Jewish folks were an ethnicity were "Tar and Feathered as, "anti-Semites."
Now, since the advent of the human genome project, anyone that points out that Jewish folks AREN'T an ethnicity, they use that same tactic, they are anti-Semites, Kind of like Lester is..
Bu Lester the Moronic Asshole thinks that he's justified, don't you?
Anti-Zionism (being against ethnostates) isn't anti-semitism (being against the Jewish ethnicity or religion). One is hyper-inclusiveness, the other hyper-exclusiveness.
Yes, Les is a race/sex/religion essentialist, not a race/sex/religion non-essentialist. he thinks that only minorities deserve to hold race/sex/religion essentialist group identities and views... and whites cannot embrace their own group identities like minorities can... so to him "race/sex/religion" is still an "essential" feature of group and personal identity.
The Democrats may NOT Be as great as they think they are but they are far from it.
And they wouldn’t be missed, even if they would.t be missed If they ceased to exist!
In the case of the Jews, he thinks that they are "colonial oppressors" of the Palestinian people, so they must surrender their sovereignty to Islamic demographics and domination. I say that the Jewish people should dump "democracy" for monarchy, or some other less contentious form of government.
In other words, render race/sex/religious identity politics Moot through forcing all groups to submit to a Jewish hereditary monarch.
...cuz that's what they do in many 'quietist' Islamic countries
from Google AI:
Islamic quietism is a theological and political approach prioritizing religious devotion, piety, and obedience to authority over active political involvement or rebellion. It is characterized by withdrawal from political disputes and a focus on personal righteousness, often serving as a counter to Political Islam and violent extremism.
Key aspects of Islamic quietism include:
Focus on Piety: Proponents emphasize teaching, religious invitation (Dawa), and creating a pure way of life rather than challenging rulers.
Avoidance of Politics: Quietist Salafis and other adherents often reject electoral politics and rebellion, believing such actions cause instability and fitna (strife).
Political Voice, Not Action: While avoiding direct political involvement, many "quietists" still express opinions on public affairs, effectively using their voice in a non-violent manner, as analyzed in this Brookings report.
Historical Context: Historically, this tradition has included both Sunnī and Shīʿī practitioners who aimed to preserve the community by avoiding confrontation.
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