Another Kanye West show has been cancelled, this time in Italy, where the rapper was due to play in the city of Reggio Emilia next month. The Italian government’s main representative in that region, Prefect Salvatore Angieri, announced on Friday that the concert would not go ahead because of public order concerns.
West’s attempt to revive his touring career after formally apologising for past antisemitic conduct back in January has been hit by protests in multiple countries, resulting in shows being blocked and/or cancelled in France, Poland, Switzerland and the UK. However a show in Turkey went ahead this weekend and the Dutch government has resisted calls to cancel two shows taking place there this week.
In Italy, Jewish groups had urged officials to intervene, with Nicoletta Uzzielli, speaking for the Jewish community in Reggio Emilia, saying that West’s show should be blocked and replaced with an event that would bring “music back to the forefront as a universally unifying force”.
Angieri’s statement on Friday actually announced the cancellation of shows by two American rappers that were due to take place in Reggio Emilia next month, with a Travis Scott performance also blocked.
The two concerts, which were meant to take place on consecutive days at the same venue, were being blocked “for reasons of protection of public order and safety”, the prefect explained, before adding that having two major shows so close together was a big cause of concern.
Public safety at Scott’s shows has been heavily scrutinised, of course, ever since the fatal crowdsurge at the 2021 edition of the Astroworld festival he founded and headlined. Meanwhile, Angieri added, with West, the “concrete risk” of demonstrations being staged outside the venue was also factored in.
Politicians in the Netherlands have also been under intense pressure to block two shows West is due to perform in the Dutch city of Arnhem this weekend. But officials there have concluded there are no grounds to stop West from performing in the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Bart van den Brink told reporters that “solid grounds” were needed to ban people from entering the Netherlands and no such grounds had been identified with regards to West. The rapper’s past antisemitic statements, he added, “are not, at this moment, a reason to deny him entry”.