Kanye West should not have been invited to a UK festival. But since he was, let him play
And where to start with Ye – the artist formerly known as Kanye West? In January he apologised for five years of rancorous anti-Semitism. A year ago, he announced to 33 million X followers “IM A NAZI” before suggesting “JEWS WERE BETTER AS SLAVES”. Around the same time, his website sold nothing but a T-shirt with a swastika on it. In 2022, West gave us some indication of his direction of travel when he said he would go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE”.
Would you invite this man to perform at a music festival? Even after he apologised (via an unorthodox advert in the Washington Post); even after he said he is not an anti-Semite, that he loves Jewish people, that this was all a product of extreme bipolar disorder, that he wanted to make amends with the Jewish community, that he was very, very sorry?
What about after a further statement – saying he wanted to come to London “and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace and love through music”? You may know that last year he released a song called Heil Hitler. What if he promised, promised, that he would leave it off the set list?
I would have my reservations, but hey – just the kind of person I am. And the British government does too, it seems. Labour has blocked West from entering the United Kingdom; the festival has been cancelled and the ticket holders refunded.
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