{"id":907354,"date":"2026-05-21T12:18:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/is-kanye-west-making-a-comeback-or-is-it-all-backfiring-it-depends-who-you-ask\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T12:18:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T17:18:17","slug":"is-kanye-west-making-a-comeback-or-is-it-all-backfiring-it-depends-who-you-ask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/is-kanye-west-making-a-comeback-or-is-it-all-backfiring-it-depends-who-you-ask\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Kanye West making a comeback or is it all backfiring? It depends who you ask"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Money seemingly trumped morality last week as Kanye West was backed by Live Nation<\/a> for two shows at Los Angeles\u2019 SoFi Stadium, concerts which reportedly grossed $33 million.<\/a><\/p>\n

Despite being canceled many times and going beyond the boundaries of acceptability for many, Kanye \u2014 now known as Ye \u2014 had one of the highest grossing shows<\/a> at the stadium ever, proving there is still huge demand to listen to his music and see him perform.<\/p>\n

This despite how in the last 18 months Kanye has stated on social media<\/a>: \u201cI love Hitler,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m a Nazi,\u201d \u201cI have dominion over my wife,\u201d \u201call white people are racist,\u201d and \u201cJews were better as slaves.\u201d He also profited by selling a T-shirt with a Nazi swastika on his website, made various antisemitic statements and released a track called \u201cHeil Hitler.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Rapper<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Controversial rapper Kanye West, 48, the artist who now goes by Ye, earned a reported $33 million during his two SoFi Stadium shows last week in Los Angeles. Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe makes money. That is sort of the sentiment,\u201d a music business analyst told Page Six, requesting to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Ye, at the end of the day, it\u2019s a gamble. You sort of know there\u2019s a level of risk tolerance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s ticket demand, somebody is going to take a gamble \u2014 a promoter, a company, a festival.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Live Nation had success with West in Los Angeles, it did not fare so well when the company booked him for the UK\u2019s Wireless festival. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Kanye<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

By Tuesday, the UK Home Office barred West, who has a history of making antisemitic statements, from entering the country entirely. He was slated to headline the Wireless Festival in July. Kyle Schnitzer\/NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Kanye<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

West brought out eldest daughter North West on stage to perform last Wednesday at SoFi Stadium. ShotbyNYP \/ BACKGRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They feel West, 48, has apologized enough to justify his return. In the run up to his latest release, \u201cBully,\u201d in January he had taken out an advert in the Wall Street Journal to proclaim \u201cI am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said he was sorry to the black community \u2014 for whom he has previously claimed \u201cslavery was a choice\u201d and baited by wearing a \u201cWhite Lives Matter\u201d T-shirt \u2014 and his family. The root of his problems, West claimed, was his bipolar disorder which he says wasn\u2019t properly diagnosed until 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cI aspire to earn your forgiveness,\u201d West\u00a0said in his letter. He had also met with a rabbi in New York last November to make amends with the community.<\/p>\n

Then the mic dropped. As soon as Wireless was announced, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer\u00a0told The Sun<\/a>\u00a0newspaper last Sunday: \u201cIt is deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Kanye<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

The Wireless Festival banked big on making West a headliner at the now-canceled hip-hop music festival and lost big time when corporate sponsors started bailing out. AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pepsi pulled out of the event the same day. Liquor sponsor Diageo, owner of Johnnie Walker and Casamigos, followed, then Rockstar energy drink. Paypal forbid its branding to be used, although it did not entirely drop out,\u00a0BBC reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the UK Home Office barred the \u201cHeartless\u201d rapper from entering<\/a> the country entirely and Wireless Festival was canceled. West had been set to receive $15 million to play over the festival\u2019s three nights,\u00a0according to DailyMail.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Live Nation and West did not respond to a request for comment from The Post.<\/p>\n

However, just because the stuffy, starched-collar English authorities have barred West, it doesn\u2019t mean the comeback is over. He still has concert bookings in Italy, Spain, France, Turkey and the Netherlands this summer, as of press time. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Kanye<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Despite being banned from the UK, a source close to West told Page Six: \u201cWe\u2019re going to keep doing big \u2018Bully\u2019 business. More music to come. Ye is feeling himself again.\u201d GC Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A source close to West told The Post they are confident those dates will go ahead, saying: \u201cI\u2019m not seeing other countries following the UK.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to keep doing big \u2018Bully\u2019 business. More music to come. Ye is feeling himself again.\u201d<\/p>\n

West now exists in a curious space whereby he is instantly recognizable and still has an audience, but is considered taboo within the mainstream.<\/p>\n

He is in a small \u2014but growing \u2014 category of people like misogynist influencer Andrew Tate, who is banned from all major streaming platforms, or the Irish political rap group Kneecap, who have been accused of hate speech and banned from touring the US. Both still have large audiences online. \u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Kanye<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Seth Schachner, a former Sony Music executive told Page Six: \u201cHe\u2019s not being pulled down from Spotify. The catalogue is still up there. Unfortunately, this type of attention \u2014 you see it when a government or someone bans something \u2014 the digital results, the inverse, you see more of it.\u201d Jordan Strauss\/Invision\/AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Kim<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Kim Kardashian filed for divorce from Kanye West in 2021. They share four kids together, North West (right), Psalm West, Chicago West and Saint West. Instagram\/@kimkardashian<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Seth Schachner, a former Sony Music executive and\u00a0host of the music business podcast<\/a>, \u201cBreaking Down The Biz,\u201d told Page Six West\u2019s scandals may have even helped him as much as they hurt him with some audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe irony is that he and others can live digitally. He\u2019s not being pulled down from Spotify. The catalogue is still up there. Unfortunately, this type of attention \u2014 you see it when a government or someone bans something \u2014 the digital results, the inverse, you see more of it,\u201d Schachner said.<\/p>\n

One of the things to have arguably kept West\u2019s name in the spotlight has been his wife, Australian model and artist Bianca Censori, whose almost-naked appearances <\/a>at events have drawn plenty of headlines and helped keep them both relevant.<\/p>\n

She has only given one interview, where she said of West\u2019s controversies: \u201cYou know, he has to go through his process in how he amends that, and I\u2019m here to support and love and be with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Kanye<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

In the last 18 months, Kanye has stated on social media: \u201cI love Hitler,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m a Nazi,\u201d \u201cI have dominion over my wife,\u201d and \u201call white people are racist.\u201d He also has sold and worn a swastika T-shirt in public. Khrome \/ BACKGRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

West married Censori in 2022<\/a>, shortly after finalizing his divorce from Kim Kardashian, who he wed in 2014 and with whom he shares four children: North, 12, Saint,10, Chicago, 7, and Psalm, 6.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kardashian filed for divorce in 2021<\/a>, citing a \u201clack of stability\u201d\u00a0as Kanye went through earlier meltdowns and mental health battles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t like the feeling of\u2026 someone talking bad about my kids\u2019 grandmother, aunts,\u201d she told the \u201cCall Her Daddy\u201d podcast in 2025, adding: \u201cI didn\u2019t know\u2026 what you\u2019re going to get when you wake up. And that\u2019s a really unsettling feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the time of the divorce, West was technically a billionaire, but the fallout from antisemitic statements he made at that time saw Adidas cancel their shoe line<\/a> with him. He was also dropped by Gap clothing,<\/a> fashion house Balenciaga, Def Jam records and others.<\/p>\n

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\"Kanye<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

West is slated to perform in Italy, Spain, France, Turkey and the Netherlands. A source close to West told The Post they are confident those dates will go ahead, saying: \u201cI\u2019m not seeing other countries following the UK.\u201d ShotbyNYP \/ BACKGRID<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

West and Kardashian now co-parent their children and North appeared with her father at his So Fi shows, collaborating on songs \u201cTalking\u201d and \u201cPiercing on My Hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 70,000 fans appeared at the shows including comedian like Dave Chappelle, actress Chloe Bailey and singer Erykah Badu.<\/p>\n

\u201cHip hop audiences never fully gave up on him,\u201d a music manager told Page Six, although they added: \u201cHis lack of meaningful action to undo his past is hurting him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those close to West disagree.<\/p>\n

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\"Kanye<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

West\u2019s wife, Bianca Censori, has kept him in the spotlight. The Australian model and artist who\u2019s almost-naked appearances at events have drawn plenty of headlines and helped keep them both relevant. REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s apologized, he\u2019s done what he can do and it\u2019s over,\u201d said his pal.<\/p>\n

Asked about the UK ban on the rapper, the friend insisted: \u201cThis is just the British Government virtue signaling, they haven\u2019t done their research.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople believe in Ye, and they believe he was suffering from a mental health issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those with bipolar disorder have mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs, they can have \u201cunhelpful negative thoughts and ruminations\u201d and \u201cget symptoms of paranoia and delusions,\u201d according to charity Bipolar UK.<\/p>\n

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\"Kanye<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

Kanye has attributed his outbursts to his bipolar diagnosis, however, per medical experts, there is little research to suggest the mental disorder manifest in racist hate speech. WireImage<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Medical experts agree manic episodes lead people to do things they wouldn\u2019t usually. However, there is little research to suggest it manifests in racist outbursts.<\/p>\n

The question is if there is enough gray area for the public and corporations are to accept West\u2019s justifications and apologies \u2014currently, it seems it could go either way. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAn advertisement, generating publicity before a concert tour. It does not erase years of abuse \u2026 it\u2019s fine for his famous pals to pat him on the back and say, \u2018It\u2019s all good.\u2019 But the community he has harmed most has no reason to trust his apology is authentic,\u201d wrote actor and director David Schwimmer on X this week.<\/p>\n

Jonah Hill, who is also Jewish, <\/a>had a different take. He said he thinks West is \u201cprobably the greatest artist ever to live,\u201d and hopes \u201cwhatever happens, he can heal or whatever, and everyone can heal from all that stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Money seemingly trumped morality last week as Kanye West was backed by Live Nation for two shows at Los Angeles\u2019 SoFi Stadium, concerts which reportedly grossed $33 million. Despite being canceled many times and going beyond the boundaries of acceptability for many, Kanye \u2014 now known as Ye \u2014 had one of the highest grossing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":907355,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[553,1510],"tags":[9826,5287],"class_list":["post-907354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-kanye","category-making","tag-kanye","tag-making"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/907355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}