The announcement that Kanye West will headline all three nights of Live Nation’s Pepsi-sponsored Wireless festival in London this year has been criticised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism and Jewish Leadership Council.
The headline booking follows West’s formal apology earlier this year for his past racist and antisemitic conduct, but campaigners argue that the rapper’s rehabilitation by the music industry is happening far too quickly given the dangerous ideologies he previously and recently supported.
“Kanye West has dedicated years of his life to trying to incite his followers to hate Jews”, a spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism says in a statement to Far Out Magazine.
“He has more followers than there are Jews on Earth”, they add, “so his incitement has a huge impact”. It is therefore “disappointing” that “one of the UK’s biggest festival stages” has been “so quick to invite someone who was so recently peddled conspiracy theories, Hitler worship and bigoted lies”.
The Jewish Leadership Council is even bolder in its criticism, telling The Guardian it is “deeply irresponsible for Wireless festival to be headlining Kanye West”. They add, “the UK Jewish community is facing record levels of antisemitism, including a terrorist attack in Manchester, the attack on ambulances in Golders Green and foiled plots which would have killed many more”.
“West has repeatedly used his platform to spread antisemitism and pro-Nazi messaging”, the Council goes on, which means “any venue or festival should reconsider before providing their platform to Kanye West to spread his antisemitism”.
In recent years both the Campaign Against Antisemitism and the Jewish Leadership Council have also been critical of artists like Kneecap and Bob Vylan because of their outspoken on-stage criticism of Israel. And that has also resulted in pressure being put on festivals who book either band.
Obviously both Kneecap and Bob Vylan strongly deny that they’ve ever made antisemitic statements, on-stage or otherwise. They argue that the allegations of antisemitism originate with pro-Israeli groups, which want to falsely equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism in an attempt to silence that criticism.
However, with West, of course, the allegations of antisemitism are much more straightforward. From 2022 until last year, he repeatedly made outright and unapologetic antisemitic statements. Which resulted in numerous music industry and brand partners cutting ties with the rapper.
Then in January, West took out an advert in the Wall Street Journal to formally apologise for all those past statements, claiming he had “lost touch with reality” in recent years, and adding, “I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions, and am committed to accountability, treatment and meaningful change”.
The big question for music companies who are now starting to work with West once again is whether or not that apology was sincere and the rapper has truly put his antisemitic conduct behind him for good.
In its statement on his Wireless booking, the Jewish Leadership Council says that West’s January apology “must be considered in the context that he went on to sell swastika t-shirts and release a song called ‘Heil Hitler’ after apologising previously”.
Meanwhile the Campaign Against Antisemitism says that it was “notable” that West published his apology in the WSJ as work began on promoting his new album ‘Bully’, adding, that West’s “cycle of apology and relapse has become a routine”, meaning “we must wait to see if this time is any different”
If he now “remains on the right path and makes more effort to make amends”, the campaign group goes on, then that is “well and good”, however, “if he returns to his old ways”, venues and festivals that have provided the rapper with a new platform “will have much to answer for”.