The group was joined by the Campaign Against Antisemitism in their condemnation of the booking of rapper who has repeatedly embraced pro-Nazi messaging and once sold swastika t-shirts.
The U.K.’s Jewish Leadership Council has issued a statement condemning the Wireless Festival for booking Ye (formerly Kanye West) as the headliner of all three nights (July 10-12) of the this year’s event at Finsbury Park in London. A spokesperson for the Council told the Guardian, “It is deeply irresponsible for Wireless festival to be headlining Kanye West. The UK Jewish community is facing record levels of antisemitism, including a terrorist attack in Manchester, the attack on ambulances in Golders Green and foiled plots which would have killed many more.”
West has a long history of making antisemitic statements, from releasing a song called “Heil Hitler,” to selling T-shirts with swastikas on them and declaring himself a Nazi.
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“West has repeatedly used his platform to spread antisemitism and pro-Nazi messaging,” the Council told the paper. “His most recent apology must be considered in the context that he went on to sell swastika T-shirts and release a song called Heil Hitler after apologizing previously. Any venue or festival should reconsider before providing their platform to Kanye West to spread his antisemitism.”
In addition, the U.K.’s Campaign Against Antisemitism told Far Out magazine that it was also vehemently opposed to the booking. “Kanye West has dedicated years of his life to trying to incite his followers to hate Jews,” a spokesperson for the charity said. “He has more followers than there are Jews on Earth, so his incitement has a huge impact. His cycle of apology and relapse has become a routine, so as with any addict once again we must wait to see if this time is any different.”
The charity noted that, as in the past, West’s most recent apology for his hate speech came on the even of the release of a new album, Bully, which dropped last week. “It is disappointing that venues have been so quick to invite someone who was so recently peddled conspiracy theories, Hitler worship and bigoted lies – including now one of the UK’s biggest festival stages. If he remains on the right path and makes more effort to make amends, that is well and good, but if he returns to his old ways these venues will have much to answer for.”
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The festival run by Festival Republic, which is part of Live Nation, announced on Monday that West would headline all three nights of this year’s event, similar to Drake’s three-night stint last year, calling it a “three-night journey through his most iconic records.” The shows in support Bully will be West’s first gigs in the UK in 11 years and come after the rapper, 48, took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal in January apologizing for his repeated incidents of hate speech against the Jewish people, claiming that his 2022 car crash caused brain damage that led to mental health issues.
“I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst,” Ye wrote. “You endured fear, confusion, humiliation and the exhaustion of trying to love someone who was, at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self.” He added, “In that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it,” claiming that he is now “committed to accountability” while saying he is “not a Nazi.” West issued a similar apology in 2023, just ahead of the release of his Vultures album.
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West’s once formidable music and fashion empire melted down in 2022 after the rapper went on a monthslong spree of antisemitic comments, including printing the neo-Nazi phrase “White Lives Matter” on shirts as his Yeezy Paris Fashion Week show in October of that year, following an incident in which he said he was going “death con [sic] 3 on Jewish people” and later repeatedly praised Hitler and said he was a Nazi.
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Those incidents, and several others like it, resulted in Ye losing lucrative deals with a number of former business partners, including Balenciaga, Adidas, Gap, Foot Locker and label UMG, as well as the scrapping of a planned documentary and the talent agency CAA dropping him as a client, among many other sanctions.
Ye headlined the Wireless Festival in 2014 and though he has performed less often since the backlash to his antisemitic comments, he is booked to make his return to the stage in the U.S. tonight (April 1) with the first of two shows at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
