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The three-day outdoor festival has been officially called off due to a travel ban, with organizers assuring ticket holders that they will receive full refunds.
The BBC reported, citing the Home Office, that Ye’s electronic travel authorization has been revoked. Officials determined that his presence in the UK would not be “conducive to the public good.”
The artist, who legally changed his name in 2021, was scheduled to perform in the UK for the first time in over ten years. He was set to headline London’s Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park from July 10-12, entertaining approximately 150,000 attendees. The festival had yet to announce other performers for the event.
Organizers faced increasing pressure from both sponsors and politicians to cancel Ye’s performances following widespread backlash over his antisemitic comments and expressions of admiration for Adolf Hitler.
In the previous year, Ye released a controversial song titled “Heil Hitler” and listed a T-shirt with a swastika for sale on his website. In January, the 48-year-old offered an apology, publishing a full-page letter in The Wall Street Journal. He attributed his actions to his bipolar disorder, explaining that it led to “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid, and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”
Wireless sponsors Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo pulled out of the festival since Ye was announced as the headliner.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the booking “deeply concerning” and Health Secretary Wes Streeting said on Tuesday that Ye should “absolutely not” play at the festival.
In a statement issued on Tuesday before his travel authorisation was revoked, Ye said he “would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen”.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,” he said.
“If you’re open, I’m here.”
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, had said the group would be willing to meet with the musician if he pulled out of the festival.
“The Jewish community will want to see a genuine remorse and change before believing that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage at the Wireless Festival,” Rosenberg said.
Organiser Festival Republic had stood by Ye. In a statement issued on Monday, managing director Melvin Benn urged people to offer the performer “forgiveness and hope”.
“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,” the statement said.
Announcing the cancellation, Festival Republic said that “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,” it said in a statement.
“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 Community Security Trust, which works to protect British Jews, said the government had made the right decision.
“Anti-Jewish hatred should have no place in society and cultural leaders have a role to play in ensuring that is the case,” it said in a statement.
“People who show genuine and meaningful remorse for previous antisemitic behaviour will always receive a sympathetic hearing from the Jewish community, but that process must come before this kind of public rehabilitation.”
A representative for Ye didn’t reply to a request for comment.
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