Ye Concerts Nixed In Poland, Switzerland

Scheduled performances by Ye — formerly Kanye West — in Poland and Switzerland have been canceled, raising questions about whether the rapper’s planned European tour will indeed occur.

Ye’s history of antisemitic statements had already led the British government to deny him entry into the country, subsequently leading to the outright cancellation of the Wireless festival, which he was set to headline. Following that, a performance in Marseille, France, was “postponed” as the French government announced it too would seek to bar Ye’s entry in that country. Now, shows slated for Poland and Switzerland are off.

Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, Poland, where Ye was to perform June 19, announced the concert had been canceled “due to formal and legal reasons.” This after the country’s culture minister Marta Cienkowska said Ye’s history of antisemitic remarks should prevent him from performing in a country “scarred by the history of the Holocaust.”

“We cannot pretend that this is just entertainment,” Cienkowska said. “We are talking about an artist who has publicly made anti-Semitic remarks, relativized crimes, and profited from selling T-shirts with a swastika. These are not ‘controversies.’ This is a deliberate crossing of a boundary and a normalization of hate.”

In Switzerland, Ye was to perform at St.-Jakob Park, the home stadium of FC Basel. Over the weekend, the club announced it’d nixed the show.

“FCB received an enquiry ⁠and considered it. However, after thorough review, we have decided not ‌to proceed with the project, as we cannot, in accordance with our values, provide a platform ‌for the artist in question within this context,” the team announced.

After the four cancelations, Ye still has European dates on the docket in Turkey, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Portugal throughout the summer