French minister seeking to ban June Kanye West concert in Marseille

By AFP 14 April 2026, 3:52 pm

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Kanye West and Bianca Censori attend the 67th GRAMMY Awards on February 2, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images via AFP)

France’s interior minister is seeking to block US rapper Kanye West from performing in the southern city of Marseille in June due to his antisemitic remarks, a source close to the minister tells AFP.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is “highly determined” to ban the June 11 concert at Marseille’s Velodrome stadium and is exploring “all possibilities,” the source says.

West, 48, has been heavily criticized for making repeated antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

Britain has blocked the US rapper, also known as Ye, from entering the country due to his outbursts, prompting organizers of a festival he was to headline to cancel the July event. Prime Minister Keir Starmer had called booking West “deeply concerning.”