Kanye “Ye” West is still scheduled to headline all 3 days at Wireless Music Festival at Finsbury Park in north London, England from July 10-12.
TMZ reports Ye is banned from entering the country after the UK government revoked his visa.
Even though England is part of the United Kingdom (UK), England retains its own system of government. So England may approve Ye’s visa to perform in London.
Corporate sponsors are boycotting the festival after antisemitic remarks by Ye over the years.
Pepsi, British beverage giant Diageo, and PayPal dropped out as festival sponsors over the weekend.
More sponsors pulled out on Monday. The growing list now includes Rockstar Energy Drink, and Anheuser-Busch InBev, owner of beer brand Budweiser and alcohol brand BeatBox.
“We have decided to withdraw our sponsorship of this year’s Wireless Festival,” an AB InBev spokesperson said in a statement to The Independent.
Both Rockstar Energy and Pepsi are under the same parent company, PepsiCo.
Wireless Festival managing director Melvin Benn defended Ye in a statement on Monday.
“Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world,” he said. “I would ask people to reflect on their instant comments of disgust at the likelihood of him performing (as was mine) and offer some forgiveness and hope to him as I have decided to do.”
“Ye has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country,” Benn’s statement continued. “We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions.”
In a statement to the BBC, Ye explained, “My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music.”
Ye, 48, is currently on a comeback tour. He sold out 2 nights at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles last week.
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