Kanye West has been hit with a slew of concert cancellations in several countries, from Poland to Brazil.
The San Antonio mayor has called as well for his slated show to be removed.
West has received considerable backlash for controversial opinions.
The mayor of San Antonio has endorsed the cancellation of Kanye West’s concert at the city’s Alamodome, scheduled for the Fourth of July. A day after tickets went on sale for the controversial hip-hop superstar’s July 4 performance in San Antonio, that city’s mayor said she backs “canceling the @kanyewest concert.”
The mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said the city should not host “someone with a record of hate speech and antisemitic comments in a city-funded facility,” and especially not on the country’s 250th birthday. “I support cancelling the Ye concert,” Jones wrote in a post on X. “Military City USA should not host someone with a record of hate speech and antisemitic comments in a city-funded facility like our Alamodome—not ever, and certainly not on July 4th, our Nation’s 250th birthday. Standing up to antisemitism is exactly what it takes to achieve a more perfect Union.”
In January, West published a lengthy Wall Street Journal advertisement apologising for years of antisemitic and other controversial comments. The rapper mapped his outbursts onto a long history of mental health struggles that left him in a “fractured state,” during which “I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it,” he said. “I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
Despite his apology, West has continued to find opposition when scheduling his world tour, though he’s still succeeded to perform in countries like Turkey, the Netherlands, and Georgia, as well as Inglewood, California’s SoFi Stadium. An upcoming show in Prague was scrapped this month when the venue pulled out. A performance in Poland was canceled last month due to “formal and legal reasons,” but the nation’s Culture minister wrote of the decision, “In a country scarred by the history of the Holocaust, we cannot pretend that this is just entertainment. Artistic freedom does not mean giving a free pass to everything. Culture cannot be a space for those who exploit it to spread hatred.” Last year, he was denied a visa to enter Australia. A French festival had to cancel his show under the brunt of local authorities. Planned shows in Switzerland and Brazil were also jettisoned.
