Wireless Defends Kanye West Headlining Booking Amid Controversy

Organisers of the Wireless music festival have spoken out as the controversy over Ye’s upcoming headlining slot continues to grow.

Last week, it was announced that the Grammy-winning rapper – formerly known as Kanye West – would be headlining all three nights of Wireless at London’s Finsbury Park over the summer.

In January, Ye – who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2016 – paid for a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal, in which he made a public apology “to those I’ve hurt” with his antisemitism, which he explained had come during a months-long manic episode where he said he had “lost touch with reality”.

Following the news of his upcoming Wireless shows, groups including the Jewish Leadership Council, the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism and Board Of Deputies Of British Jews all condemned Ye’s booking, with the president of the latter going as far as questioning whether the government should be “blocking” the Touch The Sky musician from “entering the country”.

London mayor Sadiq Khan also took issue with the booking, and in the days since, numerous major brands have pulled their sponsorship from Wireless, while UK prime minister Keir Starmer said it was “deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism”.

On Monday evening, Melvin Benn, the managing director at Festival Republic, the promoters behind Wireless, said in a statement: “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.”

He continued: “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.”

In his statement, Benn claimed that he has been a “deeply committed anti-fascist” his entire adult life, and “lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970’s that was attacked on 7 October”, describing himself as “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,” he added.

“If I wasn’t before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work.”

Two months after issuing his public apology, Ye released his 12th studio album Bully at the end of March.

Bully reached number three in the UK albums chart, and number two in his home country of the United States, with lead single Father also peaking at number 27.

Ye previously dismissed the suggestion that his apology was a “PR move” intended to help him “release music” and “operate [his] businesses” as he had before his various controversies in 2025.

Pointing out that people had continued to listen to his music in their droves at the height of the backlash he faced, he insisted to Vanity Fair: “This isn’t about reviving my commerciality. This is because these remorseful feelings were so heavy on my heart and weighing on my spirit.

“I owe a huge apology once again for everything that I said that hurt the Jewish and Black communities in particular. All of it went too far. I look at wreckage of my episode and realise that this isn’t who I am.

“As a public figure, so many people follow and listen to my every word. It’s important that they realise and understand what side of history that I want to stand on.”