Kanye West’s Marseille concert has been postponed indefinitely – leaving fans wondering whether the rest of his tour will go ahead.
The “Power” rapper, who now goes by the moniker Ye, kicked off his world tour with two sold-out dates at the 70,000-seater SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles earlier this month. But the gigs were quickly followed by an uproar surrounding plans for the 48-year-old to headline all three nights of Wireless Festival in London.
West’s return to performing stadium shows was overshadowed by scrutiny of his previous antisemitic comments, and the apology that followed in January of this year. Despite a passionate defence from Festival Republic boss Melvin Benn, Wireless was soon cancelled in its entirety after the government blocked its headline act from entering the UK.
West has now seemingly got ahead of a similar situation in France by announcing the indefinite postponement of his Marseille gig, days after a French minister said he was “very determined” to stop the concert from going ahead.
So what’s happening with the rest of the tour? For the time being, at least, most of the dates are set to go ahead as planned. The promter for the Madrid show said: The Ye Live Madrid show is going ahead as planned. We’re confident it will sell out in the coming weeks and deliver an incredible night for Ye fans.”
- 23 May: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi
- 30 May: Ataturk Olympic Stadium, Istanbul
- 6 + 8 June: GelreDome Stadium, Arnhem, the Netherlands
- 11 June: Orange Velodrome, Marseille – POSTPONED
- 19 June: Superauto.pl Stadion Slaski, Chorzow, Poland
- 10, 11 + 12 July: Wireless Festival, London – CANCELLED
- 18 July: Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Madrid
- 7 August: Estadio Algarve, Algarve, Portugal.
The Independent has contacted West’s manager and every other venue. This list will be updated accordingly.
The “Bound 2” rapper’s New Delhi concert will mark the first time he’s ever performed in India and its organiser told The Independent earlier this week that fans can look forward to “a one-night-only cultural moment, not just a concert”.
Aman Kumar, co-founder of entertainment company White Fox, said: “This is not just a tour stop. This is a moment of alignment.”
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Elsewhere, the government in the Netherlands is facing pressure to follow the UK’s lead and ban West from entering the country – but a minister has said there are no grounds to do so. Local media reports that asylum and migration minister Bart van den Brink said: “Based on what is currently known to me, I have no indication that an entry ban can be applied here.”
West hasn’t performed in the UK since he headlined Glastonbury in 2015.
In recent years, the rapper has attracted criticism on multiple occasions after making antisemitic comments on social media, selling t-shirts with swastikas on and releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler”.
He apologised for his conduct in January and blamed it on having bipolar-1 disorder. In a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal, he said: “I lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret.”
“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.”
Festival Republic’s decision to book West for Wireless was condemned by London mayor Sadiq Khan and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but boss Benn initially stood by the decision.
In a statement that labelled West’s comments about Jews and Hitler “abhorrent”, Benn continued: “Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world.”
“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,” he said.
The indefinite postponement in France comes after French interior minister Laurent Nuñez vowed to explore “all possibilities” to make sure the show was cancelled. Last month, the mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, said he would “refuse to let Marseilles be a showcase for those who promote hatred and unapologetic Nazism”.
