Rapper Kanye West's concert canceled in Poland

The management of the stadium in the Polish city of Chorzow refused to hold a concert by rapper Kanye West, citing “formal legal” reasons. It was supposed to take place on June 19.

Earlier, the country's Minister of Culture Marta Cenkowska called the concert “unacceptable”:

“We are talking about an artist who publicly expressed anti-Semitic views, condoned crimes and made money by selling swastika T-shirts. These are not “contradictions”. This is the deliberate crossing of boundaries and the normalization of hatred. In a country marked by the history of the Holocaust, we can't pretend this is just entertainment. Artistic freedom does not mean agreeing to everything. Culture cannot be a space for those who use it to spread hatred,” she wrote.

Previously, the British festival Wireless was canceled after the UK Home Office banned West, who was its headliner, from entering the country. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said West "should never have received the invitation" to perform at the festival and vowed the government would "not stop fighting the poison of antisemitism."

In recent years, West has repeatedly found himself at the center of scandals involving anti-Semitic remarks and pro-Nazi gestures. In 2024, rock musician Ozzy Osbourne refused to provide the rapper with a sample for a new track, calling him “an anti-Semite who has caused untold heartache to many.”