Kanye West, who now goes by ‘Ye’, will headline this year’s Wireless festival [Renan Facciolo_CC BY-SA 2.0]

ANTI-RACISM campaigners in Finsbury Park have slammed the “disgusting” announce­ment of “virulent anti-Semite” Kanye West as this year’s Wireless headliner.

Mr West, who now goes by “Ye”, was confirmed this week to headline the festival, organised by Live Nation, for three consecutive nights in July. Live Nation recently signed a five-year deal with Haringey Council to continue host­ing festivals and events such as Wire­less “for the community” in Finsbury Park.

Mr West last performed in the UK when he headlined Glastonbury in 2015. In the years since, his reputation has plummeted owing to frequent racist outbursts online, sustained anti-Semitism and support for members of the far-right.

Gary MacFarlane, an organiser for Stand Up To Racism in north London, said the decision to platform Kanye at the festival was “disgusting”.

Mr MacFarlane, who has been organising demonstrations against racism and fascism for over 15 years, said: “Kanye West is on record for being a virulent anti-Semite, praising Adolf Hitler and associating with known neo-Nazis. I am really disappointed that Wireless would put someone with such disturbing baggage as a headliner of this festival in our community.

“The booking is just one more thing that is sadly pushing anti-Semitism and racism more broadly into the mainstream. I imagine this booking will outrage our Jewish and minority communities in north London – I hope that there will be a movement to convince the Wireless organisers to change their decision.

“Despite what the festival organisers might argue, inviting someone like Kanye West is a political move and will only increase divisions. It’s another example of the need for ordinary people to stand up and push back.”

In 2018 Mr West drew widespread criticism for saying that “slavery was a choice”. He followed this statement with a public endorsement of Donald Trump, and has frequently associated with far-right influencer Nick Fuentes, a self-proclaimed neo-Nazi and white supremacist.

Mr West’s online anti-Semitism has seen him banned and unbanned from social media platforms several times. His outbursts include: “I love Hitler” and “I am a Nazi” on X. He also sold T-shirts bearing a swastika. Following the posts, he published a statement on X saying that he would “never apologise” for his comments towards the Jewish community.

In January of this year, Mr West published a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal apologising to the Jewish and black communities for his comments, citing his 2016 bipolar diagnosis and “frontal lobe damage” caused by a high-profile car crash in 2002.
In the statement, he said: “I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love Jewish people.”

A spokesperson for CST, a charity that protects British Jews from anti-Semitism, said: “It is completely unacceptable that Kanye West has been announced as a headliner for Wireless Festival despite his well-documented record of anti-Semitic comments, including the release of a song titled Heil Hitler.

“While he has since apologised, this does not erase the impact of his words or actions and there is little confidence that he will not repeat his appalling views in future.

“We saw last summer the damage that can be done by major music festivals giving a platform to people with extreme, hateful views. Anti-Semitism causes real harm to Jewish communities and decisions like this risk signalling that anti-Jewish racism is welcome in the music industry.”

Live Nation, the organisers of Wireless festival, were approached for comment but did not respond.