The rapper formerly known as Kanye West postponed his upcoming show in the city of Marseille after French authorities said they would seek to ban the concert.
The decision by Ye came a week after he was banned from entering the UK, where he was scheduled to headline the Wireless Festival in July, following a backlash over the artist’s history of antisemitic remarks. The festival was later canceled.
Earlier this month, Ye held a sold-out Southern California concert for 70,000 fans in a comeback from years of controversy, 11 months after releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler.”
“After much thought and consideration, it is my sole decision to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice,” Ye wrote Wednesday on the social network X. “I know it takes time to understand the sincerity of my commitment to make amends.”
The rapper, who changed his name in 2021, had been expected to play at Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome on June 11.
French Interior minister Laurent Nuñez had pledged to explore “all possibilities” to make sure the show would not go on as planned, according to his office.
Earlier this year, Marseille Mayor Benoît Payan opposed the rapper’s visit to one of France’s most multicultural cities, which has a history of immigration stretching back centuries.
“I refuse to let Marseille be a showcase for those who promote hatred and unabashed Nazism,” Payan said. “Kanye West is not welcome at the Vélodrome, our temple of community and home to all Marseillais.”
Ye has drawn widespread condemnation for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.
He has repeatedly alienated the global Jewish community and broad swaths of his fanbase since the fall of 2022, when he first threatened to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
Ye released a song called “Heil Hitler” and advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website last year. Officials in Australia canceled the musician’s visa after the release of the single.
The 48-year-old apologized in January with a letter published as a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. He said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”
Ye said in his latest message on X, “I take full responsibility for what’s mine but I don’t want to put my fans in the middle of it. My fans are everything to me. Looking forward to the next shows. See you at the top of the globe.”
Source:
www.timesofisrael.com
