Pressure mounts over Kanye West's UK festival appearance

MPs and Jewish organisations are all pushing for Kanye West's appearance at the Wireless Festival and preventing him from entering the country due to his previous antisemitic remarks.

Last year, the actor, now known as Ye, released a song called 'Heil Hitler' and sold swastika T-shirts before apologising and blaming his bipolar disorder.

He is supposed to attend the London event in July, but two sponsors pulled out on Sunday, while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the booking is "deeply concerning.

"Allowing someone with his track record to headline a big public gathering sends the wrong message.

West's recent antisemitic activities, according to Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, were not a one-off lapse but a pattern of conduct that has caused real offence and distress to Jewish populations.

According to BBC Radio 4's Today show, we cannot allow these artists to have a platform. Labour MP Rachael Maskell said West should not be allowed admission to the UK.

Why is it that the prime minister has said that the Wireless Festival should cancel this artist, but that she should not be allowed to perform in the face of the antisemitic remarks he has made and broadcast,

she said.

In Finsbury Park, north London, West is set to headline all three nights of Wireless, which is forecast to attract 50,000 people per day from 10 to 12.

Last week, the first tickets were available in a PayPal pre-sale, with another pre-sale set to begin on Tuesday before tickets go on general sale on Wednesday.

Pepsi, the festival's headline sponsor, pulled out on Sunday, but Diageo, the drinks behemoth, withdrew its support "as it stands.

PayPal, a payment partner for Wireless, has announced that it will no longer be able to use its branding on promotional material for the festival.

Since releasing Heil Hitler last May, Australia cancelled West's visa.

According to Michael Weiger, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the UK should now follow suit.

We think it would be a very appropriate move for the home secretary to not allow him into the country,

he said.

The Board of Deputies charged Wireless Festival, its parent company Festival Republic, and managing director Melvin Benn with "profiteering from racism.

Benn and Festival Republic have not replied to calls for clarification.

According to the Home Office, it did not have any comment to add to the prime minister's remarks.

Antisemitism was

abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears,

Sir Keir said on Sunday that "everyone has a responsibility to ensure that Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe."

Stephen Silverman of the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), on the other hand, called the booking "astonishing.

It's great that sponsors are now doing the right thing and withholding their funds, but what could have been the right idea to do to a singer who released a music video for a song named Heil Hitler less than a year ago?

he told BBC Radio 5Live.

'PR disaster'

With the festival likely to be a failure without a major sponsor, Guardian music editor Ben Beaumont-Thomas said the organisers could choose to cancel.

They certainly could take the financial blow, but it would be a major financial blow,

he told Radio 4. Already it's a PR disaster for them, says the author, and I wouldn't be surprised if they scrapped it entirely.

West's latest album is currently number two on the US album chart and number three in the United Kingdom, and he appeared in two sold-out stadium shows in Los Angeles this weekend.

He should certainly sell out shows wherever he likes, Times music critic Lisa Verrico told 5Live, if he's allowed to play. The issue is that I believe you would not give a public forum to someone who is otherwise unknown. But many people still love his music, she said.

Why his streaming numbers are so high, and here's why: if he does play at Wireless, it will sell out straight away.

Haringey Council, which manages Finsbury Park, said it would like to hear from Festival Republic that "performing acts do not offend or denigrate any race or faith." In the meantime, the Sun announced that Tottenham Hotspur FC had declined to allow West to perform at their north London stadium.

West apology

In recent years, West has sparked outrage for a string of antisemitic and pro-Nazi remarks. Including a photograph that appears to show a symbol combining a swastika and the Star of David, as well as a statement that a man said he would go DEFCON 3 On Jewish people. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite.