The Wireless Festival wants to give Kanye West another chance following his past antisemitic remarks.
Since it was announced that West would be the headliner of the London festival, backlash ensued, and Pepsi withdrew its partnership from the event. Additionally, PayPal, alcoholic beverage companies Diageo and AB InBev, the brewer behind brands such as Budweiser and Corona, have all withdrawn their support of the festival.
Melvin Benn, the managing director of Wireless Festival’s parent company Festival Republic, released a statement to Entertainment Weekly about West’s performance. In his defense of West, Benn wrote that he “has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country.”
“I am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have been all my adult life,” Benn said. “And I lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970’s that was attacked on October 7th. I’am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state.”
”I have witnessed many episodes of despicable behavior that I have had to forgive and move on from,” he added.
Benn continued, “What Ye has said in the past about Jews and Hitler is as abhorrent to me as it is to the Jewish community, the Prime Minister and others that have commented. And — taking him at his word — to Ye now also.”
Concluding his statement, Benn said that everyone deserves to be forgiven.
“Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing, divisive world,’ Benn wrote. “I would ask people to reflect on their instant comments of disgust at the likelihood of him performing. And offer some forgiveness and hope to him as I have decided to do.”
U.K. PRIME MINISTER DENOUNCED WEST BEING BOOKED FOR THE FESTIVAL
Before sponsors canceled, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the festival, attempting to feature West.
“Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted clearly and firmly wherever it appears,” Steamer told The Sun. “Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure.”