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Kanye West pictured in February 2025. – Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n
Kanye West<\/a> has offered to meet with members of Britain\u2019s Jewish community following controversy over his scheduled appearance<\/a> at a music festival in London.<\/p>\n The announcement that the rapper, who is known as Ye, would headline the three-day Wireless Festival sparked criticism from Jewish groups and politicians, who highlighted his repeated antisemitic remarks in recent years.<\/p>\n The backlash saw major sponsors Pepsi and Diageo withdraw from the event, which is scheduled for July 10-12, as well as drawing criticism from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who called the decision for West to headline \u201cdeeply concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n Now West has issued a statement saying he has been following the conversation surrounding his Wireless appearance and wants \u201cto address it directly.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music,\u201d reads the statement in an update to his Wall Street Journal letter \u201cTo Those I\u2019ve Hurt,\u201d circulated by Festival Republic, which runs Wireless, on Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cI would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen,\u201d said West.<\/p>\n \u201cI know words aren\u2019t enough \u2013 I\u2019ll have to show change through my actions,\u201d he added. \u201cIf you\u2019re open, I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n West \u2013 who previously said he had bipolar disorder before saying last year that he had been misdiagnosed and instead has autism<\/a> \u2013 took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal in January to apologize for his previous comments.<\/p>\n \u201cI lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIn that fractured state, I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts<\/a> bearing it.\u201d<\/p>\n However, the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) questioned whether West\u2019s remorse was genuine, saying that the rapper and festival organizers would have to choose between \u201cprofit or principle.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf Mr West cancels his appearances at Wireless, it will be a sign that he may be genuine in his remorse. If he does not, then a meeting with Jewish groups can serve no purpose other than to kosher his invitation to the Festival \u2013 which we will play no part in,\u201d said a spokesperson for the group in a statement Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cKanye West still has tracks on sale with titles such as \u2018Heil Hitler\u2019 and \u2018Gas chamber\u2019. We want to see genuine signs of remorse from the man who last year said he made $40 million by selling swastika t-shirts via an ad he ran during the Super Bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n CAA added: \u201cCancelling this premature gig would be a start, since Mr West has previously made apologies right before album releases and concert tours and then retracted the apology and reverted to type.\u201d CAA said they needed to be persuaded that this time \u201cwill be different.\u201d<\/p>\n Melvin Benn, managing director at Festival Republic, issued a statement Monday defending the decision to book West.<\/p>\n Benn said that previous comments made by West about Jews were \u201cabhorrent,\u201d but added that the rapper deserves forgiveness.<\/p>\n \u201cForgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world,\u201d Benn said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe 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,\u201d added Benn.<\/p>\n Wireless is one of the UK\u2019s biggest music festivals, attracting up to 150,000 attendees each year.<\/p>\n West has not performed in the UK since headlining Glastonbury in 2015.<\/p>\n celebrity.land\u2019s Lianne Kolirin contributed to this report.<\/p>\n\u2018Profit or principle\u2019<\/h3>\n