Kanye West cancels Marseille concert as France seeks to ban him from nation
“After much thought and consideration, it is my sole decision to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice.”
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“After much thought and consideration, it is my sole decision to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice.”
A Kanye West concert slated for the French city of Marseille has been postponed after France, like Britain before it, has been trying to figure out how to ban West from performing. The artist posted to X, "After much thought and consideration, it is my sole decision to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice."
In a follow-up post, he addressed the commentary that has seen him banned from nations, saying, "I know it takes time to understand the sincerity of my commitment to make amends. I take full responsibility for what’s mine but I don’t want to put my fans in the middle of it. My fans are everything to me. Looking forward to the next shows. See you at the top of the globe."
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/2044259369030955020?s=20
West performed two sold-out concerts at the Los Angeles SoFi Stadium, where his set consisted of a globe on top of which he stood, and fans sang along with his songs. Other artists joined him, such as Travis Scott, Lauryn Hill, and his daughter, North West. He released a new album this year, Bully, and boasted that no AI was used on the record.
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/2036936847029657820?s=20
West has been roundly critiqued for antisemitic comments he has made, including for releasing a song called "Heil Hitler." He also sold shirts with swastikas on them and declared that he was a Nazi. During a fashion event in France, he wore a shirt that said "white lives matter" in reaction to the Black Lives Matter protests. At the time, saying "white lives matter" was perceived by leftists as racist and hateful.
The British government, headed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, blocked West from gaining a visa so that he could travel to the nation and headline the Wireless Festival.
The festival's sponsors, including Pepsi and Diageo, both backed out and then the festival itself canceled the entire event and refunded tickets. Starmer spoke publicly against West, as did London mayor Sadiq Khan.
Ahead of the release of his album and subsequent tour, West took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal to apologize for his remarks. He blamed bipolar disorder for his actions, many of which were confusing, such as the dismantling of his multi-million dollar Malibu beach house to the bones of the structure, making it unlivable.
"Having bipolar disorder is not a state of constant mental illness," he wrote. "When you go into the manic episode, you are ill at that point. When you are not in an episode, you are completely 'normal.' And that's when the wreckage from the illness hits the hardest. Hitting rock bottom a few months ago, my wife encouraged me to finally get help."
He still has concert dates scheduled in New Delhi, Istanbul, the Netherlands, Madrid, and Portugal. His only US dates were in April in Los Angeles.
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