Kanye West: barred from entering the UK after his antisemitism controversy

The United Kingdom has decided to revoke entry permission for Kanye West, who was expected this summer at London's Wireless Festival. The move comes after weeks of controversy over his antisemitic and racist statements in recent years, which had already reignited debate over his presence on the lineup.

According to the BBC, the decision followed criticism from Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who had called for the visa to be reviewed. The government subsequently opted for a hardline stance, effectively barring the artist from entering the country.

The festival organisers' attempt to defend the booking, arguing the need to grant a “second chance,” proved futile. Nor was it enough that West himself had offered to meet with representatives of the British Jewish community to apologise.

In recent months Kanye West has attempted a partial rehabilitation of his public image, publishing a paid letter in The Wall Street Journal in which he apologized to the Jewish community for his previous antisemitic statements, linking part of his behavior to bipolar disorder and a frontal lobe injury resulting from a 2002 accident.

In recent days the American rapper surprise-released “Bully“, a new album. West is also expected to perform live in July at the Hellwatt Festival in Reggio Emilia.

On March 25, via X, the American artist shared a list of 18 tracks, including “Beauty And The Beast” and “Preacher Man”, already performed live, accompanying the post with the caption “BULLY ON THE WAY NO AI”. The “NO AI” note directly addresses the speculation that has circulated in recent months about a possible use of artificial intelligence in the project. In a 2025 interview with Justin Laboy, West himself had hinted at using AI in his creative process. Those statements were later downplayed by manager Peter Jideonwo and former Yeezy chief of staff Milo Yiannopoulos, who denied the presence of any AI-generated content in “Bully”.

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