The boss of Wireless Festival has asked the public to ‘forgive’ Kanye West as he defended booking the disgraced rapper as a headliner.
Sponsors have been dropping like flies amid a furious backlash against booking West in the wake of anti-semitic comments, and the Prime Minister even voiced his concerns.
But Melvin Benn, Managing Director at Festival Republic, the company behind Wireless, has refused to back down – explaining he overcame initial feelings of ‘disgust’ at the idea of West performing.
He stressed this evening the importance of ‘forgiveness and giving people a second chance’, and urged the public to reconsider its knee-jerk reaction.
West, now known as Ye, apologised in January after a period of spewing racist hate, and even recording a song called Heil Hitler. He blamed his outbursts on his bipolar disorder.
PayPal and Rockstar Energy Drinks announced they were parting ways with the festival on Monday, following the lead of Pepsi and drinks giant Diageo on Sunday.
This plunged the festival deeper into chaos, leaving it without a flagship sponsor and the prospect of a raft of other companies withdrawing their backing.
Mr Benn’s intervention appears to be an attempt to divert disaster, though incredibly he has not bowed to the pressure to remove West from the lineup.
Wireless Festival has come under intense fire for booking Kanye West as a headliner
Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Festival Republic, behind Wireless Festival, has defended his booking of Kanye West
Addressing the rapper’s recent history of vile antisemitic rants and lyrics, Mr Benn said: ‘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.’
He insisted he is ‘pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state’, and cited his experience living on a kibbutz for some months in the 1970s.
The director also said that in his personal life he has seen how mental illness can cause bouts of ‘despicable behaviour’, but that he has had to ‘forgive and move on’.
Mr Benn continued: ‘He [Kanye] is intended to come in and perform. We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature.’
West has drawn widespread criticism in recent years after he began voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler and made a series of anti-Semitic remarks.
He is set to top the bill for all three nights of Wireless Festival in London’s Finsbury Park in July.
The rapper also wanted to perform at Tottenham Hotspur’s stadium during his tour of the UK but the club rejected his request.
Sadiq Khan also blocked him from a show at West Ham’s London Stadium amid community concerns and fears it would cause reputational risk for London.
The PM himself joined criticism of Wireless saying it is ‘deeply concerning’ that West is due to perform ‘despite his previous anti-Semitic remarks and celebration of Nazism’.
Sir Keir is now under growing pressure to take legal steps to ensure West can’t enter the UK ahead of his summer gigs.
Home Secretary Shabana 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.
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.
He wrote: ‘Given his repeated anti-Semitic remarks, including statements expressing sympathy for Nazi ideology, his return to the UK is deeply concerning.
‘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.’
In a post on X, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said last week: ‘The PM is right to be deeply concerned that Wireless Festival wants to headline someone whose anti-Jewish bigotry has gone as far as recording a track titled ‘Heil Hitler’ less than a year ago.
‘But the PM is not a bystander. The Government can ban anyone from entering the UK who is not a citizen and whose presence would ‘not be conducive to the public good’. Surely this is a clear case.’
