The Board of Deputies of British Jews has said it will meet Kanye West “as part of his journey of healing” – but only if the rapper cancels his scheduled performances at this summer’s Wireless Festival.
Meanwhile, the Holocaust Education Trust has poured scorn on the event’s organisers arguing they are “only interested in making money”.
West is due to headline all three nights at the Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park, north London, in July, marking his first performances in the UK in over a decade. The rapper, who has openly spoken about living with mental illness, has made numerous antisemitic comments in recent years, including declaring himself a Nazi and glorifying Hitler, later apologising.
In the wake of the backlash over his appearance, West has said he “would be grateful” to meet members of the Jewish community in the UK “following the conversation around Wireless”, as he wants to “address it directly”.
"My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music,” he continued.
The rapper, who goes by the name Ye, expressed a desire to meet Jewish people “to listen”, saying: “I know words aren't enough – I'll have to show change through my actions. If you're open, I'm here.”
West’s suggestion came as the boss of Festival Republic, which runs Wireless, issued a statement defending the rapper and claiming he deserved another chance.
Responding to the developments, Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg said: “It has been less than a year since Kanye West released a song entitled Heil Hitler, the culmination of three years of appalling antisemitism. He also made a number of deeply offensive comments about the Black community, saying that the 400-year experience of slavery was ‘like a choice’.
"Even while claiming remorse today, his latest album includes a track first released last year with the abhorrent title Gas Chamber. The Jewish community will want to see a genuine remorse and change before believing that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage at the Wireless Festival.”
He added: "As such, we are willing to meet Kanye West as part of his journey of healing, but only after he agrees not to play the Wireless Festival this year.”
In October 2022, in a post on X West said he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people [sic]” and he later denied the Holocaust on a far-right talk show.
Last spring, West released the track Heil Hitler, which contained an extract of a speech from the Nazi leader. This followed the sale on his website of T-shirts featuring a swastika.
His outbursts led to him being dropped by commercial partners, most notably Adidas. He has issued multiple apologies over the years before going on to make further explicitly antisemitic comments.
Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, has insisted West deserves forgiveness, though.
Benn said in a statement: "What Ye has said in the past about Jews and Hitler is as abhorrent to me as it is to the Jewish community, the prime minister and others that have commented and – taking him at his word – to Ye now also."
The festival boss continued: “Having had a person in my life for the last 15 years who suffers from mental illness, I have witnessed many episodes of despicable behaviour that I have had to forgive and move on from.”
He added: "If I wasn't before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work.”
"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," Benn said.
Rosenberg gave Benn’s statement short shrift, however, noting: “After a week of Wireless Festival avoiding any media, this statement will not reassure many within the Jewish or other communities against whom Kanye West’s invective was directed over a much longer period than his more recent apology.”
He continued: “The two key facts remain that Kanye West proclaimed himself a Nazi, and that Wireless stands to benefit financially from his performance.
“Indeed, we note that concern was Benn’s initial reaction to the idea of inviting Kanye West. It remains ours.
“It is time for Wireless to do the decent thing and rescind an invitation they never should have offered. Kanye West may well be on the path to health and healing. We sincerely hope that he is. But the space to test this is not over three days on the Wireless main stage.”
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Education Trust, echoed this sentiment and accused Wireless organisers of “only [being] interested in making money.”
Pollock said: “If Kanye West really was sorry, he would have taken steps to show that a long time ago rather than offering empty gestures at the eleventh hour amidst controversy.
"Wireless knowingly chose to invite someone who released a song called Heil Hitler and still has a song on his album entitled Gas Chamber.
She added: "The fact Wireless are now defending the indefensible shows they are only interested in making money, not responsibility or accountability. No one should be taking lectures from them on forgiveness."
Last week Sir Keir Starmer described West’s Wireless billing as “deeply concerning” but neither he nor home secretary Shabana Mahmood have commented on demands from Labour and Tory MPs to block the rapper from entering the UK.
In January, West took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal to apologise for his behaviour.
The advert, which took the form of a letter to “those I have hurt”, attributed his actions to a bipolar disorder, resulting from an injury in a car accident that had only been diagnosed many years later.
In early 2025, he fell into “a four-month long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour that destroyed my life,” he said.
In that “fractured state”, he explained, “I gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it…
“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.”
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