Wireless Festival has been cancelled after Kanye West was blocked from travelling to the UK to headline it.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood banned the rapper from visiting the UK to perform at the festival in July on the grounds his presence would ‘not be conducive to the public good’.

Calls had been growing for West to be removed from the line up after a string of anti-Semitic outbursts, including releasing a song called Heil Hitler and posing in a swastika t-shirt. 

The 48-year-old applied for an Electronic Travel Authorisation yesterday, but he was denied entry to the UK. As a result, organisers have cancelled the entire event, saying refunds would be issued to all ticketholders. 

‘As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking YE and no concerns were highlighted at the time,’ a spokesman for the event said.  

‘Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise 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.’

West had said he wanted to show ‘change through his actions’ and meet with Jews in London ahead of the performance in Finsbury Park – which would have been his first in the UK in 11 years. 

He joins the likes of Eva Vlaardingerbroek – a Dutch anti-immigration influencer who promoted the ‘great replacement’ theory – in having his permission to travel to the UK revoked. 

Nigel Farage had earlier spoken out against banning him, but the decision was welcomed by anti-Semitism campaigners. 

Kanye West said he wants to meet with Jewish communities in London ahead of headlining Wireless Festival later this summer 

West in a previous social media post wearing a sweatshirt bearing a swastika  

The Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘The Government has clearly made the right decision here. For once, when it said that antisemitism has no place in the UK, it backed up its words with action. 

‘Someone who has boasted of making tens of millions of dollars from selling swastika t-shirts and who released a song called ”Heil Hitler” just months ago clearly would not be conducive to the public good in the UK.’

Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman earlier said that West’s ‘permission to enter the UK was under review’. 

‘As we speak, all available options remain on the table.’

He continued: ‘Clearly, decisions are taken on a case-by-case basis in line with the law and the evidence available.

‘But where individuals pose a threat to public safety or seek to spread extremism, the Government has not hesitated to act.’

This morning, Melvin Benn, managing director at Festival Republic, which promotes Wireless Festival, revealed that West had been a granted a visa to come to the UK ‘in the last few days’.

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney later backed the rapper, saying ‘we live in a free country’ and we should ‘let people enjoy the music they want to listen to’. 

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Benn said: ‘He has a visa already issued to appear, to come into the country, and the Home Secretary may well rescind that today, I don’t know.

‘If she does, she does, and then the issue is over in terms of his appearance.’

Mr Benn previously defended the decision to put West, who is also known as Ye, on the bill at Wireless Festival, describing himself as a ‘deeply committed anti-fascist’ and ‘person of forgiveness’.

In a statement, Mr Benn added: ‘What Ye has said in the past about Jews and Hitler is as abhorrent to me as it is to the Jewish community, the Prime Minister and others that have commented and – taking him at his word – to Ye now also.

‘Ye’s music is played on commercial radio stations in this country.

‘It is available via live streams and downloads in this country without comment or vitriol from anyone and he has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country. He is intended to come in and perform.

‘We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions.’

West is set to top the bill for all three nights of Wireless Festival – where he hopes to bring ‘unity, peace, and love’ through his music.

The fashion designer shared an update to his apology letter titled ‘To Those I’ve Hurt’ that was published as a full page advert in The Washington Post in January, where he had apologised for his anti-Semitic behaviour.

He wrote: ‘I’ve been following the conversation around Wireless and want to address it directly.

‘My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music. 

‘I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen.

‘I know words aren’t enough – I’ll have to show change through my actions.

‘If you’re open, I’m here.’

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said it would not meet with West and added that it would protest at Wireless if his planned performances go ahead as ‘nobody knows what might come out of Mr West’s mouth on that stage’.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting insisted he should not allowed to perform while speaking with GBNews this morning

A statement from the CAA read: ‘If the appearances go ahead, we will be organising a mass demonstration outside the festival, whose organisers should be ashamed of themselves.’

The CAA went on to say that if West cancelled his performances then ‘it will be a sign that he may be genuine in his remorse’.

The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Phil Rosenberg, responded that in light of his years of anti-Semitic remarks and music, performing on the main stage at Wireless was not the correct place to test West’s ‘sincerity’ without showing  ‘a genuine remorse and change’.

He shared a statement on X that read: ‘It has been less than a year since Kanye West released a song titled Heil Hitler, the culmination of three years of appalling antisemitism.

‘He also made a number of deeply offensive comments about the Black community, saying that the 400-year experience of slavery was ‘like a choice’.

‘Even while claiming remorse today, his latest album includes a track first released last year with the abhorrent title Gas Chamber.

‘The Jewish community will want to see a genuine remorse and change before believing that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage at Wireless Festival.

‘As such, we are willing to meet Kanye West as part  of his journey of healing, but only after he agrees not to play the Wireless Festival this year.’

Speaking to GB News, Wes Streeting also said he did not believe West should be headlining but added that whether he was allowed to enter the UK was a matter for the Home Office.

He said: ‘As to whether he should be headlining the Wireless Festival, I think that’s very straightforward, no I do not think he should be headlining the Wireless Festival.

‘I think his comments were absolutely grotesque and whatever justification he uses, he has got to accept that with his enormous fame and reach comes influence and a responsibility, and his comments take place against a backdrop of rising antisemitism, rising hatred against Jewish people, not just around the world but in this country.’  

He added that he thinks the use of bipolar disorder by Kanye West to justify his actions is appalling.

Mr Streeting said: ‘When Kanye West uses bipolar disorder to justify his actions, I think that is equally appalling by the way.’

‘I would ask people to consider, does using bipolar disorder as an excuse to write and release a song called Heil Hitler and plaster it across T-shirts, does bipolar disorder really justify that? Or is it an excuse to justify rotten behaviour?’

The Health Secretary then told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Kanye West needs the forgiveness of Jewish communities but did not believe ‘he’s done anything to earn it’.

He said: ‘The decision as to whether he’s let in is a legal decision for Home Office and I’m not going to prejudice that decision by commenting.

‘Should he be headlining the Wireless Festival? Absolutely not. Look at his behaviour – not one or two off-colour remarks, he released a song called Heil Hitler, plastered it across T shirts, issued a mealy mouthed and self serving apology and now expects people to feel sorry for him.

‘I’m only too sorry that the festival organisers have chosen to platform him, given that behaviour and then to offer the fig leaf of credibility with an absolutely absurd statement issued overnight.

‘If he wants forgiveness, it’s not my forgiveness that he needs, it’s the forgiveness of Jewish communities and I don’t think he’s done anything to earn it.’

West had previously attributed his inflammatory actions to bipolar disorder, which he said he developed as a result of an injury sustained in a car crash 25 years ago.

‘I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite,’ he wrote, adding: ‘I love Jewish people.’

He previously made an apology to the Jewish community in 2023 in a social media statement posted in Hebrew. 

West went on to begin selling swastika t-shirts on his website in February 2025.

Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said it was ‘absolutely the wrong decision’ for Wireless to book West.

Sponsors like Pepsi and Diageo have already withdrawn their support from the festival after Ye was announced as the headline act.

It has also been reported that Rockstar Energy has pulled its sponsorship, while PayPal will not appear in any of the event’s future promotional materials.

There is now mounting pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to ensure West can’t enter the UK ahead of his summer gigs.

Ms Mahmood has powers to ‘exclude’ someone from Britain if they are not considered conducive to the public good.

This can include those who have ‘engaged in extremism or other unacceptable behaviour’, or someone who ‘if admitted to the UK the person is likely to incite public disorder’.

A person does not need to have a criminal conviction to be refused admission on non-conducive grounds, according to Home Office guidance.

As of last night, it is understood that the Home Office is not aware of any immediate plans for West to travel to the UK, but his permission to enter is currently being reviewed by ministers.

The PM himself joined criticism of the event saying it is ‘deeply concerning’ that West is due to perform ‘despite his previous anti-Semitic remarks and celebration of Nazism’.

Senior Tory MP Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, wrote to Ms Mahmood on Monday to use her powers to block West from entering the UK.

‘Given his repeated anti-Semitic remarks, including statements expressing sympathy for Nazi ideology, his return to the UK is deeply concerning,’ he said.

‘This is not a one-off lapse, but a pattern of behaviour that has caused real offence and distress to Jewish communities.

‘His partial apologies have been retracted in the past and do not atone for what he has said.’

Mr Philp added: ‘At a time when anti-Semitism is rising in the UK, allowing someone with this track record to headline a major public event sends entirely the wrong message.’

Last month, four Jewish community ambulances were set on fire outside a north-west London synagogue in a suspected anti-Semitic hate crime.

Three men have since been charged in the arson attack.