In a whirlwind Easter weekend, Kanye West went from being announced as Wireless’ headliner to the entire festival being cancelled.
Huge backlash surrounding Kanye, known as Ye, and his antisemitic, racist, sexist, and homophobic comments swiftly brewed after he was announced.
After sponsors pulled out of Wireless, the UK government decided to refuse his visa, effectively blocking him from performing.
Now, it’s been claimed that the London festival had coughed up a whopping $15million (£11million) for the controversial rapper to headline all three nights.
A source told the Daily Mail that Wireless was yet to secure a headliner and Ye had been ‘turned down’ by other London venues so they obliged for his heft payout request.
‘They were advised that it would be mad to put him on stage in Haringey, so close to a large Jewish community in north London, and they didn’t listen,’ the insider said.
West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur were said to have rejected Ye’s gig request; meanwhile, Twickenham was considered but decided to be the ‘wrong crowd’.
The source added that Live Nation, who own Wireless, will likely have included a clause to protect that $15million from visa issues by placing responsibility on the artist.
‘They think it’s not as big a disaster as it could have been but, good luck getting Kanye to pay you back,’ the insider quipped.
A decision was made by the Home Office to deny Ye entry to the UK, ruling that his presence ‘would not be conducive to the public good.’
The news came hours after a festival insider told Metro it was ‘looking unlikely’ the Bully rapper would take to the Finsbury Park stage.
Before this, sponsors, including headline partner Pepsi, had dropped out over Ye’s antisemitic behaviour and the backlash from fans.
It was later claimed by Melvin Benn, Managing Director at Festival Republic, that Pepsi had signed off on the decision and was fully aware Ye was performing.
While the Yeezy founder did apologise in January, it was less than a year ago that he released a song titled Heil Hitler.
Around the same time, he was seen wearing and selling a T-shirt with a swastika on it after declaring himself a Nazi.
Ye has since said he was in the grips of a manic episode, having lost touch with reality due to his bipolar disorder and has since sought help.
However, even if some are willing to give him grace for this, the majority of people felt it was simply too soon, and his actions hadn’t shown remorse.
Melvin told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Wireless and Ye’s teams ‘reached out’ to Jewish communities.
He said he contacted the groups ‘over the last couple of days’ but they had ‘refused to meet him’.
The Power rapper also issued an apology directly relating to the Wireless backlash, acknowledging that ‘words aren’t enough’ and he would ‘have to show change through actions’.
Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, issued an ultimatum to the rapper if he was ‘sincere’ in his apology.
‘We are willing to meet Kanye West as part of his journey of healing, but only after he agrees not to play the Wireless Festival this year,’ they stated.
The festival boss gained huge heat himself for backing the decision to platform Ye in a statement before the whole thing was cancelled.
In a statement after the cancellation, Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘Kanye West should never have been invited to headline Wireless.
‘This government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of antisemitism.
‘We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.’
As a result of sponsors bailing and no other headliners on the billing, Wireless decided to cancel this year’s festival, with a huge question about next year still looming.
Metro has reached out to Live Nation for comment.
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