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Kanye West Refused Entry to UK, Wireless Festival Canceled
Kanye West walking on the red carpet during the 67th Grammy Awards held at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA on Feb. 2, 2025. Photo: Elyse Jankowski/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Britain has blocked US rapper Kanye West from traveling to the country to headline London’s Wireless Festival in July over his past antisemitic comments and celebration of Nazism.
Organizer Festival Republic said his permission to enter and perform in Britain had been withdrawn on Tuesday and the three-day event had been canceled and refunds would be issued to all ticket holders.
The decision followed mounting pressure on the government after Kanye West, now known as Ye, was named a headline act on April 1. Several major companies withdrew sponsorship, while Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the artist should never have been invited.
“We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values,” Starmer said.
Authorities said Ye was denied entry on the grounds that his presence would not be conducive to the public good.
YE HAD OFFERED TO MEET JEWISH COMMUNITY
Earlier on Tuesday, Ye offered to meet Britain’s Jewish community, saying his only goal was to come to London and present a show of change, “bringing unity, peace, and love through music.”
He said he was aware of the controversy surrounding his planned Wireless appearance.
“I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen,” he said. “I know words aren’t enough – I’ll have to show change through my actions. If you’re open, I’m here.”
He has performed in the US and Mexico City this year but was barred from Australia last July after releasing “Heil Hitler,” a song promoting Nazism. He also advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.
In January, he took out a full‑page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal to apologize for his behavior, which he attributed to an undiagnosed brain injury and untreated bipolar disorder, and renounced past expressions of admiration for Adolf Hitler.
MINISTER DECRIES PATTERN OF BEHAVIOR
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Ye’s actions amounted to a “pattern of behavior,” citing the song and merchandise, and accused him of using mental health as an excuse.
Festival Republic managing director Melvin Benn had previously said Ye’s comments were “abhorrent” but defended the booking, arguing against denying artists second chances.
Jewish groups welcomed the visa decision. The Board of Deputies of British Jews said meaningful engagement would require genuine remorse, while the Jewish Leadership Council had condemned the booking amid a rise in antisemitic attacks.
Ye, 48, has not performed in Britain since headlining Glastonbury in 2015. Sponsors including Diageo, Pepsi and Anheuser‑Busch InBev withdrew support for Wireless, while PayPal said its branding would not appear in future Wireless promotion material.
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The Forward publishes exclusive interview with Columbia protest leader Mahmoud Khalil
New York — April 7, 2026 — Today, the Forward, the nation’s leading Jewish news organization, published an exclusive, in-depth interview with Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University protest leader whose arrest during last year’s campus demonstrations thrust him into the national spotlight.
In a candid and wide-ranging conversation with Arno Rosenfeld, an enterprise reporter and author of the Forward’s Antisemitism Decoded newsletter, Khalil critiqued Hamas and said it had come to power through collaboration with Israel, explained his “nuanced” view of Zionism and detailed his vision for a “free Palestine” that includes the Jewish citizens of Israel.
“I was glad to have the opportunity to drill down on specifics that have been widely speculated upon but not addressed in Khalil’s previous interviews,” said Rosenfeld. “He wanted to speak directly to a major Jewish audience.”
The interview offers rare insight into one of the most scrutinized figures to emerge from the campus protest movement, drawing on original reporting, Khalil’s past public statements, and interviews with current and former Columbia students.
The post The Forward publishes exclusive interview with Columbia protest leader Mahmoud Khalil appeared first on The Forward.
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US Hits Military Targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, Vance Says No Change to Strategy
US Vice President JD Vance delivers remarks at the Wilshire Federal Building in Los Angeles, California, US, June 20, 2025. Phone: REUTERS/Daniel Cole
US strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island do not represent a change in American strategy, US Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday as a US official separately told Reuters the additional strikes on military targets did not impact oil infrastructure.
The official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, described at least some of the strikes as targeting sites that had been previously struck before and said the attack occurred in the early morning hours of Tuesday.
Vance, speaking separately in Budapest, said the strikes were not a change in US strategy, with the Trump administration confident that it can get a response from Iran by 8 pm (0001 Wednesday GMT) in negotiations to end the conflict. US President Donald Trump is demanding Iran forswear nuclear weapons and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil transit waterway.
“We were going to strike some military targets on Kharg Island, and I believe we have done so,” Vance said.
“We’re not going to strike energy and infrastructure targets until the Iranians either make a proposal that we can get behind or don’t make a proposal,” he added. “I don’t think the news in Kharg Island … represents a change in strategy, or represents any change from the President of the United States.”
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French Nationals Leave Iran After Three and a Half Years Amid Softer France Tone on War
A woman walks past posters with the portraits of Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris, two French citizens held in Iran, on the day of support rallies to mark their three-year detention and to demand their release, in front of the National Assembly in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. The slogan reads “Freedom for Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris.” Photo: REUTERS/Abdul Saboor
Two French nationals were heading home on Tuesday after Iran allowed them to leave the country following three and a half years in detention, a surprise move that came as Paris sought to distance itself from the war in the region.
Cecile Kohler and Jacques Paris had been confined to France‘s embassy in Tehran since November, after being held since 2022 in the notorious Evin prison on spying charges that France has said were unfounded.
“This is a relief for all of us and obviously for their families,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X. “Thank you to the Omani authorities for their mediation efforts.”
Neither the French presidency nor the foreign ministry responded to requests for comment on what had been agreed between the two sides to ensure their release.
Iran‘s official news agency IRNA said the couple were freed following an understanding under which France would in turn release Mahdieh Esfandiari, an Iranian student living in the French city of Lyon, and withdraw a complaint against Iran at the International Court of Justice.
However, both assertions were unclear. Esfandiari, who was convicted at the end of February for glorifying terrorism in social media posts, was released after serving almost a year in prison but has appealed the conviction.
It was not clear whether she had left the country, as ordered by the February ruling. France dropped the ICJ complaint last September.
Iran‘s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot on Sunday, confirming the pair’s imminent release.
Macron has criticized US President Donald Trump’s approach to the US-Israeli war on Iran and said France would only help restore freedom of navigation to the Strait of Hormuz once there is a ceasefire and after consultations with Tehran.
France last week refused Israel permission to transfer weapons through French airspace for the war and has led efforts to water down a draft UN Security Council resolution that could have opened the door to forceful action in the strait.
A French official briefing reporters after the release denied that France had a softer position towards Iran and said Paris had warned the Iranians about the safety of their citizens given the escalation in the war.
“I think the Iranians rightly considered that if anything happened to our compatriots, the reactions here would have been extremely catastrophic,” the official said, declining to comment on the details of the negotiation.
French officials have also refused to comment on why a container ship belonging to French shipping group CMA CGM was able to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a sign that Iran may not consider France to be a hostile nation.