David Vance SubstackRead More
So this summer’s Wireless Festival has been cancelled after headliner Kanye West was blocked from coming to the UK. The government has refused permission for West, now known as Ye, to travel to the UK after backlash to his planned set at the London festival this summer.
At a time when we face a major war in the Middle East, it’s good to see where UK priorities lie, right?
However, I think this is the WRONG decision and let me explain why.
For starters, I have no interest whatsoever in the music of Kanye West, sorry. He’s not to my tastes BUT I do understand that there many be many people out there who DO like him and who were looking forward to seeing him perform at this Festival.
So, why was he banned from coming to the UK to perform?
Well, it seems that representatives of the British Jewish community were unhappy with him coming here. They wanted him banned from entering the UK over repeated antisemitic remarks, including praising Hitler, promoting swastika merchandise, and releasing inflammatory content like a song endorsing Nazi ideology. He has reiterated a January Wall Street Journal ad apology: “I lost touch with reality… I love Jewish people,” amid bipolar treatment claims.
Look, I think he is a bit weird but I don’t like this form of censorship. After all, why are Kneecap allowed to play concerts in the UK given some of their views? Why is Bob Vylan allowed to perform “Death death to the IDF”
I don’t agree with pretty much anything any of these music acts say but I also don’t think we should ban them. Let the music play on, regardless of how atrocious the people are that perform it.
