By Suban Abdulla
LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) – The British government was under growing pressure on Monday to bar U.S. rapper Kanye West from entering the country after he was named as the headline act for the Wireless Festival of rap and hip-hop music set for July.
West, now known as Ye, has been criticised in the past for antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism, which have led on several occasions to his social media accounts, including on X, being barred.
The decision to book Ye prompted several companies to pull their sponsorship of the festival, while the main opposition Conservative Party wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, urging her to ban him from coming to Britain.
Asked for comment, a Home Office source said ministers were reviewing his permission to enter the country.
The Home Office does not usually comment on individual cases, but Mahmood has powers to personally request Ye be excluded from the UK. In January, the department revoked the Electronic Travel Authorisation of Eva Vlaardingerbroek, a Dutch far-right activist, for spreading false information.
Melvin Benn, managing director at Festival Republic, one of the organisers, defended the decision to have Ye headline the event despite his “abhorrent” comments, urging the public to offer him forgiveness.
Benn said Ye would not be given “a platform to extol opinion” while on stage. He said Ye’s music was played on commercial radio stations in the country and available via livestreams and downloads “without comment or vitriol from anyone,” adding that he had a “legal right to come into the country and perform.”
“Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world and I would ask people to reflect on their instant comments of disgust at the likelihood of him performing … and offer some forgiveness and hope to him as I have decided to do,” Benn added.
Live Nation, the other organiser of the festival, and Ye’s representative did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The Jewish Leadership Council last week condemned the organisers for booking Ye after a rise in attacks on Jewish people and Jewish targets.
‘DEEPLY CONCERNING’
Prime Minister Keir Starmer also described as “deeply concerning” the decision to book Ye for the London festival.
“Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears,” Starmer said in comments first reported by the Sun on Sunday.
“Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure.”
A spokesperson for London mayor Sadiq Khan said the rapper’s comments did not reflect the city’s values and that the decision had been made by festival organisers.
Australia cancelled the rapper’s visa last July after he released “Heil Hitler,” a song promoting Nazism. The ban came a few months after Ye advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.
Ye took a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal in January to apologise for his antisemitic remarks, attributing his behaviour to an undiagnosed brain injury and an untreated bipolar disorder. He also apologised for his past expressions of admiration for Adolf Hitler and use of swastika imagery.
The 48-year-old has not performed in Britain since he headlined Glastonbury in 2015.
Drinks companies Diageo and Pepsi, a long-running sponsor, said they had withdrawn their support for the Wireless event over the decision to invite Ye. Pepsi-owner PepsiCo also confirmed its Rockstar Energy brand had pulled its sponsorship.
A spokesperson for PayPal told Reuters on Monday its branding would not appear in any future Wireless festival promotional materials.
(Reporting by Suban Abdulla; additional reporting by Natalia Bueno Rebolledo;Editing by Gareth Jones, Rod Nickel)
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