The prime minister of the United Kingdom has called it “deeply concerning.” The festival’s title sponsor, Pepsi, has pulled out. Diageo — parent of Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan — has withdrawn its support. The leader of the Board of Deputies of British Jews called it “absolutely the wrong decision.” The leaders of the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, and Reform UK have all weighed in against it.

And as of Sunday evening, Kanye West is still headlining all three nights of Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park this July.

The standoff has taken on an almost procedural absurdity. Every lever of conventional pressure — political, commercial, reputational — has been pulled. The festival’s own partner page now displays the message: “There’s nothing to see here.” Organizers Festival Republic have declined to comment publicly. The booking stands.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in comments first reported by the Sun on Sunday, said West had been booked “despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.” Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has called on the government to ban West from entering the UK altogether. The Home Office has not yet received a visa application, according to the BBC, though Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood holds the power to block entry to individuals whose presence is deemed not conducive to the public good.

West, now known as Ye, has spent recent years engaged in what can only be described as a one-man parade of antisemitic provocation — declaring himself a Nazi, selling swastika T-shirts, releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler.” He apologised in a full-page Wall Street Journal advertisement in January, attributing his behaviour to bipolar disorder. He has not performed in the UK since headlining Glastonbury in 2015.

Three songs from his latest album, released in March, currently sit in the UK top 100.

Which may be the only explanation that matters. The festival described the booking as a “three-night journey through his most iconic records.” The question of what it takes to get disinvited in 2026 appears to have an uncomfortable answer: nothing we’ve seen so far.

Sources