Kanye West has been banned from performing in Italy, following a request from the local Jewish community to cancel the gig
The rapper had been due to perform in the northern city of Reggio Emilia in July.
However, the community’s leader Nicoletta Uzzielli had urged local officials to replace the show with a performance that would bring ‘music back to the forefront as a universally unifying force’.
In recent months Kanye has been forced to apologise to the Jewish community after making a string of anti-Semitic remarks.
Travis Scott had also been due to perform but had had his concerts cancelled due to public order and security concerns.
It has been nearly five years since 10 people aged nine to 27, died during his Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas in a massive crowd surge after overcrowding.
Italy has banned Kanye West (left) and Travis Scott from performing in July after ‘concerns’ from the Jewish community (pictured together in 2016)
Prefect Salvatore Angieri announced in a statement that several factors had weighed on its decision, including the ‘cancellation of previous concerts by the American rapper in other countries and the real risk of counter-demonstrations’.
The closeness of the two events, scheduled for 17 and 18 July at Reggio Emilia’s RFC Arena, and the large crowds they were expected to attract were also said to have contributed to the decision.
Kanye has seen a string of shows cancelled in recent months.
The Stronger rapper had been planning a world tour in support of his new album Bully but a number of shows – including three nights at London’s Wireless Festival and gigs in Switzerland, Poland, and France – were cancelled following a huge backlash over his previous anti-Semitic comments.
The 48-year-old rapper’s plan to headline three nights at the Wireless Festival in London was axed after the star was blocked from coming to the UK by the Home Office and it led to the whole festival being cancelled.
The Wireless cancellation followed criticism from UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who went on to defend the decision not to let West enter the country.
In a post on X, he wrote: ‘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.’
Last month, his concert at St Jakob-Park – the home ground of soccer team FC Basel – in Basel, Switzerland was called off.
Representatives for the football club said the gig was ‘not in accordance with our values, adding: ‘FCB [ FC Basel] received an enquiry and considered it.
‘However, after thorough review, we have decided not to proceed with the project, as we cannot, in accordance with our values, provide a platform for the artist in question within this context.’
It has been five years since 10 people aged nine to 27, died during Travis’ Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas in a massive crowd surge after overcrowding
In addition, his first gig in Poland in 15 years, which had been due to take place at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow on 19 June, was axed.
In a statement posted on the venue’s website, stadium director Adam Strzyzewski explained: ‘The concert by Ye (Kanye West), scheduled for 19 June 2026 at the Superauto.pl Silesian Stadium, will not take place due to formal and legal reasons.’
The cancellation came after Poland’s culture minister, Marta Cienkowska, criticised plans for West’s gig because of his previous anti-Semitic comments and expression of admiration for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
In a post on X, Cienkowska wrote: ‘The decision to organize a Kanye West concert in Poland is unacceptable. We are talking about an artist who has publicly expressed antisemitic views, downplayed crimes, and profited from selling swastika T-shirts.
‘These are not ‘controversies’. This is a deliberate crossing of boundaries and the normalization of hatred. In a country scarred by the history of the Holocaust, we cannot pretend that this is just entertainment.
‘Artistic freedom does not mean giving a free pass to everything. Culture cannot be a space for those who exploit it to spread hatred.’
And his show in Marseille, France on June 11 was postponed ‘until further notice’, according to the rapper.
However, the star’s upcoming concerts in the Netherlands have been given the go-ahead.
Authorities concluded no evidence has been found in their investigation that would lead to Kanye being banned from entering the country, so his two shows at the GelreDome in Arnhem will be able to go ahead as planned on 6 and 8 June.
Deputy Prime Minister Bart van den Brink said: ‘Solid grounds are needed to bar people from entering [the country]. We have not found those in the analyses that were conducted.
‘His past statements are not, at this moment, a reason to deny him entry.’
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