After the Wireless Festival ban, Ye now has to cancel Marseille – the mayor and interior minister put massive pressure on it.
After the rapper was refused entry to Great Britain and the entire Wireless Festival was canceled, a planned appearance by Kanye West in France has now also been canceled.
Ye was supposed to perform there on June 11th at the Vélodrome in Marseille. On Wednesday, April 15, he wrote on
What happened before
The announcement does not come without a history. The city’s mayor, Benoît Payan, had already spoken out against the concert in March: “I refuse that Marseille becomes a stage for those who spread hatred and uninhibited National Socialism. Kanye West is not welcome at the Vélodrome, our temple of togetherness.”
The daily newspaper “Libération” also reported that French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had examined whether it was possible to cancel Ye’s appearance.
Debate about live performances
The cancellation of the Wireless Festival was followed by another extensive debate as to whether it would be permissible to let the rapper perform live again. Kanye West has made sexist, racist and especially anti-Semitic statements in the past. In the summer of 2025, he even released a song called “H**l Hitler.”
In January 2026, he published a statement in the Wall Street Journal to explain his statements and actions. “I am neither a Nazi nor an anti-Semite,” he wrote. He attributed his comments to bipolar disorder and a brain injury resulting from a car accident over twenty years ago.
Many saw this as a promotional prank, as the 48-year-old wanted to release his album “Bully” shortly afterwards. Following the announcement that his performance in France would be postponed indefinitely, he wrote: “I know it takes time to understand the sincerity of my desire to make amends. I take full responsibility for what is attributable to me, but I do not want to drag my fans into it. My fans mean everything to me.”
Questions continued despite allegations of anti-Semitism
Ye still has enough of them. Because despite the allegations of anti-Semitism, he continues to be listened to diligently. His new LP “Bully” reached 33.2 million streams on Spotify in the first 24 hours after its release in March. In early April, he played two sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where over 70,000 fans saw the rapper live.
