Pressure is mounting on Wireless Festival to cancel Kanye West's appearance at the London event after MPs and Jewish groups called for the booking to be dropped over his previous antisemitic comments. The festival is set to put 50,000 people per day through Finsbury Park, north London, from 10-12 July, with all three nights scheduled to be headlined by West. While the people who will fill the park are treated as a market, the real decisions are being made by sponsors, politicians and festival bosses deciding whether the booking is worth the backlash. **Who Gets to Decide** The controversy has already started to hit the festival's commercial machinery. On Sunday, the festival's headline sponsor Pepsi pulled out, while fellow drinks giant Diageo also removed its support as it stands. It has since emerged that PayPal, which is a payment partner for Wireless, will no longer allow its branding to be used on promotional material for the festival. The Board of Deputies of British Jews accused Wireless Festival, its parent company Festival Republic and managing director Melvin Benn of profiteering from racism. Festival Republic and Benn have not responded to requests for comment. The US star, now known as Ye, is due to play at the London event in July after releasing a song called Heil Hitler and selling swastika T-shirts last year. He later apologised and blamed his bipolar disorder's episodes of manic behaviour. Australia cancelled West's visa after he released Heil Hitler last May, and Michael Weiger, chief executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the UK should now follow suit. He said, "We think that would be a very appropriate step were the home secretary to find a way to not allow him into the country." **What They Call Order** Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the booking deeply concerning. The Conservative Party urged the government to refuse him a visa, saying that allowing someone with his track record to headline a major public event sends entirely the wrong message. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said West's past antisemitic actions were not a one-off lapse, but a pattern of behaviour that has caused real offence and distress to Jewish communities. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said West's past comments were completely unacceptable and absolutely disgusting and that the rapper should not appear at the festival. She said, "There is no place for that kind of hatred, bigotry or antisemitism from him or from anyone else." She also said she could not comment on whether the government would block his visa. Sir Keir said on Sunday that antisemitism was abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears, and that everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe. The Home Office said it did not have any comment to add to the prime minister's remarks. **The Money Behind the Stage** The Guardian's music editor Ben Beaumont-Thomas said organisers may decide to cancel because the festival is likely to struggle without a major sponsor. He said, "They probably could take the financial hit, but it would be a big financial hit. Already it's a PR disaster for them, and I wouldn't be surprised if they did cancel it altogether." That is the logic of the setup: a public event presented as culture, but held together by corporate money that can vanish the moment the brand damage gets too loud. West's new album is currently number two in the US album chart and number three in the UK, and he played two sold-out stadium shows in Los Angeles this weekend. The Times music critic Lisa Verrico told 5Live, "He can certainly sell out shows wherever he likes, if he's allowed to play. The problem is, in the past, I think you wouldn't give a public platform to someone that problematic." She added, "That's why his streaming stats are so high and why, if he does play at Wireless, it will sell out straight away." Haringey Council, which oversees Finsbury Park, said it would seek assurances that Festival Republic will remind all artists of a licensing condition that performing acts do not offend or denigrate any race or religion. The Sun reported that Tottenham Hotspur FC had refused to let West perform at their north London stadium. West has caused outrage for a string of antisemitic and pro-Nazi comments in recent years, including posting an image appearing to show a symbol combining a swastika and the Star of David and saying he would go death con 3 On Jewish people. This January, the rapper apologised in a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, writing: "I am not a Nazi or an antisemite." He said bipolar disorder meant when you're manic, you don't think you're sick and that he had lost touch with reality. "I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state," he added.
