Wireless Festival has cancelled its 2026 event after the UK Government barred its headliner, Kanye West (now known as Ye), from entering the country.
Following the announcement, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that West "should never have been invited to headline Wireless".
The ban came after years of antisemitic comments and actions by West, dating back as early as 2022.
Here's a timeline of how we got here.
2022
In late 2022, West was spotted wearing a 'White Lives Matter' shirt during Paris Fashion Week. The garment was also featured in the runway collection for his brand Yeezy that year.
Shortly after the event, West began posting antisemitic conspiracy theories to social media. On Twitter (now named X), he wrote he was going "death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE". His accounts were then temporarily suspended by Meta and Twitter.
West went on to make several comments praising Hitler. During an interview with the right-wing conspiracy theory website InfoWars, he said: "I see good things about Hitler… I love Jewish people, but I also love Nazis."
He also tweeted an image of a swastika merged with the Star of David, which led to his Twitter account being permanently banned.
By the year's end, several major brands including Adidas, Gap and Balenciaga had ended their partnerships with the rapper. The Adidas split alone cost West an estimated $US1.5bn, ending his billionaire status.
2025
West continued to make antisemitic comments throughout 2023 and 2024, with his behaviour escalating further in 2025 when he began selling t-shirts featuring swastikas.
The rapper then released a song titled Heil Hitler, which included a direct sample from a 1935 Hitler speech.
He also announced he would be releasing an album called Cuck, featuring a song called Gas Chamber. The album, however, was never released and Heil Hitler was ultimately removed from all streaming platforms.
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In Australia, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed West's visa had been cancelled in response to the release of the song.
"If you're going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don't need that in Australia," he said.
West's wife, Bianca Censori, is Australian
2026
In January, West published a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal titled "To Those I've Hurt", in which he attributed his behaviour to a brain injury and bipolar disorder.
He wrote: "I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people." The apology coincided with the release of his comeback album, Bully.
A few months later, Wireless announced West as the sole headline act for its 2026 festival. The rapper was booked to perform across all three nights to an audience of more than 150,000 people in what would have been his first UK performance since headlining Glastonbury in 2015.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the festival organisers’ decision to book West, saying it was "not reflective of London's values". UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the situation "deeply concerning".
Following public backlash, Pepsi announced it would be withdrawing as the main sponsor of Wireless. Other major sponsors including Diageo, Rockstar Energy and PayPal also withdrew their support.
On Tuesday this week, Festival Republic managing director Melvin Benn condemned West’s history of comments, but defended the decision to book him saying the festival was "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".
Later that day, West offered to meet with the Jewish community in the UK. The Board of Deputies of British Jews said any meeting would only go ahead if he agreed not to play the festival.
Hours later, the UK's Home Office rejected West's visa application, with officials saying his presence was not considered conducive to the public good. Starmer said the Government "stands firmly with the Jewish community".
Following the decision, organisers were unable to find a replacement on short notice given West was the sole headliner, and the festival was subsequently cancelled.
Organisers said full refunds will be issued to all ticket holders, with Festival Republic saying: "Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent."
