00:00The annual Wireless Music Festival in London has come under huge pressure after it opted to book controversial American rapper
00:07Kanye West to headline this year's event.
00:10Kanye, who goes by Ye Now, was announced last week as a three-night main event of the Finsbury Park
00:16concert in July, despite the musician's past anti-Semitic remarks.
00:21The booking prompted widespread criticism across the UK, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who called his inclusion deeply concerning,
00:30and a slew of other politicians.
00:32A series of companies, including multinational's Pepsi, PayPal, and alcohol conglomerate Diageo, have pulled their festival sponsorships as a result.
00:42Ye rose to global stardom after the release of his highly acclaimed first solo album, The College Dropout, in 2004.
00:49His later music consolidated what became a highly successful career, cementing his place in US hip-hop legacy.
00:57Kanye's criticism of Jews began with a series of offensive posts on social media, which ended up getting him booted
01:04off then Twitter and Instagram,
01:06and culminated with his release of a highly controversial song, titled Heil Hitler, in May 2025.
01:13Many companies the artist has worked with, including longtime collaborators Adidas and Balenciaga, have since cut ties, in addition to
01:22his talent agency, which dropped him last year.
01:25He's doubled down in the face of criticism, declaring himself a, quote, full-blown Nazi, and posted pictures of himself
01:33in the infamous white robes associated with the KKK white supremacist group.
01:38The rapper has since apologized for his actions in a page he took out on the Wall Street Journal earlier
01:44this year, reflecting on what he called a lengthy manic episode.
01:48On Tuesday, the American artist also apologized to the UK Jewish community, and offered to meet with them to make
01:55amends for his past indiscretion.
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