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\n <\/bsp-page-actions><\/p><\/div>\n LONDON (AP) \u2014 The rapper formerly known as Kanye West<\/a><\/span> was barred Tuesday from entering the U.K., where he was scheduled to headline the Wireless Festival<\/a><\/span> in July, after a backlash over Ye\u2019s history of antisemitic remarks. <\/p>\n Festival organizers canceled the three-day outdoor event as a result of the travel ban and said those who had bought tickets would get refunds.<\/p>\n Ye applied for an electronic travel authorization to visit the U.K., but it was blocked by the government on the grounds that his presence in the country would not be \u201cconducive to the public good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKanye West should never have been invited to headline Wireless,\u201d Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement posted on social media. \u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The rapper, who changed his name in 2021, had been expected to play his first U.K. dates for more than a decade in front of around 150,000 revelers over three nights July 10-12 at the Wireless Festival, in London\u2019s Finsbury Park. Other acts for the festival had not yet been announced.<\/p>\n The event\u2019s organizers had been under mounting pressure from sponsors and politicians to cancel the gigs by the rapper, who has drawn widespread condemnation<\/a><\/span> for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.<\/p>\n Last year, Ye released a song called \u201cHeil Hitler\u201d and advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. Officials in Australia canceled the musician\u2019s visa in July after the release of the single.<\/p>\n The 48-year-old apologized in January with a letter, published as a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. He said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into \u201ca four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
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