UK reviewing entry for antisemitic rapper Kanye West after outcry

A source in the UK’s Home Office says ministers are reviewing whether to grant antisemitic rapper Kanye West permission to enter the country for a music festival in July.

The announcement comes after the main opposition Conservative Party wrote to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood urging her to ban West from coming to Britain.

West, now known as Ye, has repeatedly promoted Nazism and Jew-hatred. In May 2025, he bought a Super Bowl ad to promote T-shirts with swastikas on them, then released a song titled “Heil Hitler,” to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.

Melvin Benn, managing director at organizer Festival Republic, says West will not be given “a platform to extol opinion” while on stage when he plays three nights at the Wireless Festival in London in July as part of a European comeback tour.

Benn described West’s comments as “abhorrent,” but says his music is played on commercial radio stations in the country and available via livestreams and downloads “without comment or vitriol from anyone,” adding that he has 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 adds.