All is not forgiven.
The British government has banned Kanye West from entering their countries. The Wireless music festival is cancelled.
Kanye was set to play three shows in London in July at the Festival. But once the announcement was made, all the festival’s sponsors pulled out — some on Easter Sunday.
The British government condemned the idea of avowed antisemite and racist being allowed to perform as well as visit the country. West, who calls himself Ye, is already banned in Australia.
Yesterday, the head of the Wireless Festival shamelessly tried to endorse Kanye in order to keep his business alive. Melvin Brenn showed himself to be an unmitigated coward in the process. West offered to meet with Jewish leaders in the UK, but the response was that would only happen if the concerts were cancelled.
It’s only a year ago that Kanye West released a song called “Heil Hitler,” and sold Nazi t shirts. For years he embraced Hitler and blamed all of his problems on Jews.
A few weeks ago he thought he could overcome his status as a pariah by taking out an ad apologizing in the Wall Street Journal. But the apology was transactional. He just wanted to make money again.
The Brits have made a wise decision where the owners of Los Angeles’s SoFi Stadium did not, and let Kanye perform on the first night of Passover.
Meantime, West’s album, “Bully,” is in the top five on albums charts with sales last week of 145,000. But sales this week won’t be as strong.
The statement:
“The Home Office has withdrawn YE’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom.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 recognize 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”
