Wireless Festival Promoter Stands by Kanye West Booking

Melvin Benn, Managing Director of UK promoter Festival Republic, has defended the company’s decision to book Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, as headliner of this year’s Wireless Festival in London.

“Forgiveness and hope”:

• In his statement, Benn acknowledged that Ye’s previous statements about Jews and Hitler were “abhorrent,” and called himself “a deeply committed anti-fascist.”

• Citing his own experiences with mental health, he added that “Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world.”

• He said that the festival is simply giving Ye an opportunity to perform the songs that are streamed and played on radio, not “extol opinion of whatever nature,” and that he hoped people would “offer some forgiveness and hope to” the artist.

Sponsors withdrawing:

• Over the weekend, Pepsi and Diageo announced they were withdrawing their respective sponsorship of Wireless.

• They have since been joined by Rockstar and PayPal.

Government pressure:

• According to Pollstar, members of the UK House of Commons have asked the government to deny Ye a visa.

• This wouldn’t be without precedent: Ye was previously denied entry to Australia due to his 2025 song “Heil Hitler” and other antisemitic actions, including selling t-shirts with a swastika on his website.

• On Sunday UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Ye’s booking on Wireless, citing his “previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.”

Benn’s full statement:

• “I am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have been all my adult life. I lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970’s that was attacked on October 7th, am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state.

• “Having had a person in my life for the last 15 years who suffers from mental illness, I have witnessed many episodes of despicable behaviour that I have had to forgive and move on from. If I wasn’t before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work.

• “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.

• “Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world and I would ask people to reflect on their instant comments of disgust at the likelihood of him performing (as was mine) and offer some forgiveness and hope to him as I have decided to do.”