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For the past week, London\u2019s Wireless Festival has been under fire after announcing<\/a> Kanye West, who currently performs as Ye, would headline all three nights of its 2026 edition. As of today (April 6), at least four of the festival\u2019s sponsors, including Pepsi, have pulled out<\/a>, with at least one more, PayPal, withdrawing the rights<\/a> to its branding. (The \u201cPartners\u201d page<\/a> on Wireless Festival\u2019s website currently displays a 404 error.) British politicians including Tory MP Chris Philp and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey have also called<\/a> for West to be banned from England entirely. The criticism towards the rapper stems from his prior antisemitic comments.<\/p>\n But in a new statement, Wireless Festival organizer Melvin Benn has confirmed<\/a> that West will remain on the bill. \u201cYe\u2019s music is played on commercial radio stations in this country,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Benn continued, \u201cForgiveness 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.\u201d You can read the full statement below.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told The Sun<\/em><\/a>: \u201cIt is deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism. Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n London mayor Sadiq Khan has also addressed Wireless Festival\u2019s booking of West. \u201cWe are clear that the past comments and actions of this artist are offensive and wrong, and are simply not reflective of London\u2019s values,\u201d a spokesperson for Khan\u2019s office said in a press statement<\/a>. \u201cThis was a decision taken by the festival organizers and not one that City Hall is involved in.\u201d<\/p>\n Last month, West finally released<\/a> his long-delayed album Bully<\/em><\/a>. James Blake subsequently requested to have his name removed<\/a> from the producer credits on the LP\u2019s closing track, \u201cThe One Here,\u201d which he said was no longer true to \u201cthe spirit\u201d of the version he\u2019d worked on.<\/p>\n West is currently being sued on claims of alleged sexual battery<\/a> by a former assistant and alleged sexual assault<\/a> by a model who appeared in one of his music videos. After attending the 2025 Grammys with his wife, Bianca Censori, he posted a hate-filled X rant<\/a> in which he called himself a \u201cNazi\u201d and praised Adolf Hitler. In January, West took out a full-page ad<\/a> in The<\/em> Wall Street Journal<\/em> to issue a public apology, attributing his behavior to bipolar disorder and an untreated frontal lobe injury he sustained from a 2002 car crash.<\/p>\n Read Sam Goldner\u2019s recent live review Kanye Wades Through the Fog at SoFi Stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n Melvin Benn:<\/p>\n 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\u2019s that was attacked on October 7th, am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n