Kanye West blocked from entering Britain to headline music festival after backlash over antisemitic comments

Kanye West has been blocked from visiting Britain to headline a music festival this summer after a backlash over his antisemitic social media statements and songs, the event's organizers said Tuesday.

LONDON — Ye has been blocked from visiting Britain to headline a music festival this summer after a backlash over his antisemitic social media statements and songs, the event's organizers said Tuesday.

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The three-day Wireless Festival was canceled after authorities withdrew Ye’s electronic travel authorization, organizers Festival Republic, a division of Live Nation, said in a statement.

It comes hours after the rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, offered to meet members of the Jewish community in Britain as he responded for the first time to the mounting controversy. Pressure had built for the U.K. government to ban Ye from the country after the festival rejected calls from politicians and community leaders to drop him as headliner.