Kanye West vows to bring 'peace, and love' to Wireless Festival
Controversial rapper Kanye West has vowed to bring "peace, and love" to London's Wireless Festival and has offered to meet with "members of the Jewish community in the UK" to make amends over his antisemitic remarks.
Kanye West has vowed to bring "peace, and love" to London's Wireless Festival and offered to meet with "members of the Jewish community".
The controversial rapper is facing a major backlash after he was booked to headline three nights at the event in Finsbury Park in July with sponsors including Pepsi withdrawing from the event and the booking being criticised as "deeply concerning" by UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, but Kanye has now spoken out to insist his antisemitic remarks are in the past and he wants to "present a show of change".
In a new statement released on Tuesday (07.04.26). Kanye explained: "I’ve been following the conversation around Wireless and want to address it directly.
"My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music.
"I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen. I know words aren’t enough – I’ll have to show change through my actions. If you’re open, I’m here."
Kanye - who also goes by the name Ye - has faced criticism in recent years after making antisemitic comments and expressing admiration for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler - releasing a track titled Heil Hitler and promoting a swastika T-shirt on his website.
The rapper later apologised in a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal in which he declared: "I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people."
He also blamed his outbursts on his mental health issues, writing: "In early 2025, I fell into a four-month-long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour that destroyed my life.
"I lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret.
"I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did though."
Kanye's booking at Wireless was criticised by UK leader Starmer, who said: "It is deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.
"Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted clearly and firmly wherever it appears. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure."
However, the booking was defended by Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, which owns Wireless, who said in a statement issued on Monday (06.04.26): “I am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have been all my adult life. I lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970’s that was attacked on October 7th, am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state."
He added: "What Ye has said in the past about Jews and Hitler is as abhorrent to me as it is to the Jewish community, the Prime Minister and others that have commented and – taking him at his word – to Ye now also.
"Ye’s music is played on commercial radio stations in this country. It is available via live streams and downloads in this country without comment or vitriol from anyone and he has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country.
"He is intended to come in and perform. We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions."
Melvin concluded: “Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world and I would ask people to reflect on their instant comments of disgust at the likelihood of him performing as was mine and offer some forgiveness and hope to him as I have decided to do."
