After significant backlash to Kanye West being announced as the headliner for Wireless Festival, the UK government has now blocked his permission to enter the country.
Last week the American rapper, 48, was revealed to be headlining all three nights of the London rap and hip-hop festival in July.
The shows had been part of the controversial musician’s comeback – marking his first UK shows since his scrapped Saint Pablo tour in 2016 and coming after years of him coming under fire for spouting homophobic and anti-Semitic views, dressing up as the KKK, and writing a song dedicated to Hitler.
Earlier this year he attributed his behaviour to bipolar disorder and issued an apology declaring that he was ‘not a Nazi or an antisemite’ and that he was ‘deeply mortified’ by his past behaviour.
Despite his apology, his inclusion in the music festival’s line-up has been slammed by many, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who’s said it was ‘deeply concerning’ he’d been booked to headline the event. Meanwhile four sponsors have also pulled out.
The Home Office has now confirmed that West had made an application yesterday via an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) to travel to the UK for the shows in July. However permission has been denied because his ‘presence would not be conducive to the public good’.
Before the decision was announce, the Conservative Party urged the government to refuse West a visa as ‘allowing someone with his track record to headline a major public event sends entirely the wrong message’. Meanwhile Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said his past antisemitic actions were ‘not a one-off lapse, but a pattern of behaviour that has caused real offence and distress to Jewish communities’.
The rapper has already been refused entry to Australia, which cancelled his visa after he released Heil Hitler last May. Here’s some other notable stars who’ve been banned over the years.
Chris Brown
American rapper Chris Brown was banned from entering the UK in 2010 after he was convicted of assaulting Rihanna, his girlfriend at the time. He received five years of probation and ordered to attend one year of domestic violence counselling and undergo six months of community service.
Brown was then forced to postpone his UK tour after being denied a visa by the Home Office, who said at the time that ‘public safety is one of our primary concerns’.
The ban prevented him from touring for over a decade and was eventually lifted in 2020, with the rapper later returning to the UK two years later for perform at Wireless Festival.
Although he was arrested in the UK last year in relation to a 2023 nightclub assault investigation, Brown was granted bail to continue tour dates.
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg was banned from entering the UK in 2006 following a violent altercation at Heathrow Airport that injured seven police officers after members of his entourage were refused entry to the British Airways lounge.
Following the forced cancellation of his planned 2007 tour, the rapper’s ban was overturned two years later after an extended legal battle.
He also once claimed he received help from Queen Elizabeth II, who apparently cited grandsons’ love for his music.
Aside from the UK, Snoop Dogg has also previously been banned from Australia and Norway.
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson was banned from the UK in 2013 after immigration laws regarding foreign nationals with criminal convictions were tightened.
The American boxer had previously been sentenced to more than four years in prison for his 1992 rape conviction and was then denied entry under regulations targeting individuals sentenced to severe prison terms.
He was then forced to cancel a book tour but decided not to challenge the decision, saying: ‘If that’s what they established, then I won’t go there any more.’
Martha Stewart
Four years after Martha Stewart was convicted for conspiracy, obstruction of agency proceedings, and making false statements, in 2008 she was refused a UK visa.
The American businesswoman and TV personality had served five months in federal prison for fraud and was released in March 2005.
However planned business meetings in the UK had to be cancelled after she was prevented from entering the UK due to policies surrounding individuals with serious criminal offenses committed abroad.
Tyler, the Creator
American rapper Tyler, the Creator – real name Tyler Gregory Okonma – was banned from entering the UK for three to five years in 2015 by then-Home Secretary Theresa May, largely due to homophobic and violent lyrical content from his albums Bastard and Goblin.
At the time it was said there were concerns his work fostered hatred and public disorder and was ‘not conducive to the public good’. The rapper was then forced to cancel headline slots at Reading and Leeds Festivals and said he felt he was being treated like a ‘terrorist’.
The ban was lifted around February 2019. The following year he jokingly thanked May in a Brit Awards speech, declaring: ‘I want to give a special shout-out to someone who I hold dear to my heart…I know she’s at home pissed off, thank you Theresa May.’