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Kanye West blocked from entering U.K. after criticism over past antisemitic remarks

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Kanye West blocked from entering U.K. after criticism over past antisemitic remarks


The rapper formerly known as Kanye West was barred Tuesday from entering the U.K., where he was scheduled to headline the Wireless Festival in July, after a backlash over Ye’s history of antisemitic remarks.

Festival organizers canceled the three-day outdoor event as a result of the travel ban and said those who had bought tickets would get refunds.

Ye had been granted an electronic travel authorization which has now been withdrawn on the grounds that his presence in the U.K. would not be “conducive to the public good,” CBS News partner network BBC News said, citing the Home Office.

“Kanye West should never have been invited to headline Wireless,” U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on social media. “This government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of antisemitism. We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.”

The rapper, who changed his name in 2021, had been expected to play his first U.K. dates in more than a decade in front of around 150,000 revelers over three nights July 10-12 at the Wireless Festival, in London’s Finsbury Park. Other acts for the festival had not yet been announced.

K-Trap performs during Day 3 of the Wireless Festival at London’s Finsbury Park on July 9, 2023.

Joseph Okpako/WireImage


The event’s organizers had been under mounting pressure from sponsors and politicians to cancel the gigs by the rapper, who has drawn widespread condemnation for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

Last year, Ye released a song called “Heil Hitler” and advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. The song led Australian officials last year to block him from entering their country.

The 48-year-old apologized in January with a letter, published as a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. He said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”

Wireless sponsors Pepsi, Rockstar Energy and Diageo pulled out of the festival since Ye was announced as the headliner.

Starmer had called the booking “deeply concerning,” and Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Tuesday that Ye should “absolutely not” play at the festival.

In a statement issued Tuesday before his travel authorization was revoked, Ye said he “would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the U.K. in person, to listen.

“I know words aren’t enough — I’ll have to show change through my actions,” he said. “If you’re open, I’m here.”

Kanye West attends the Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles, California.

Kanye West attends the Grammy Awards at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.

Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic


Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said the group would be willing to meet with the musician if he pulled out of the festival.

“The Jewish community will want to see a genuine remorse and change before believing that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage at the Wireless Festival,” Rosenberg said.

Organizer Festival Republic had stood by Ye. In a statement issued Monday, managing director Melvin Benn urged people to offer the performer “forgiveness and hope.”

“We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions,” the statement said.

Announcing the cancellation, Festival Republic said that “multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking Ye and no concerns were highlighted at the time.

“Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognize the real and personal impact these issues have had,” it said in a statement. “As Ye said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the U.K.”

Kanye West blocked from travelling to UK

A view of a laptop showing the homepage of Wireless Festival (left) with Kanye West headlining in July, alongside the BBC news website with the headline that he has been blocked from traveling to the U.K. on Tuesday April 7, 2026.

Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images


The Community Security Trust, which works to protect British Jews, said the government had made the right decision.

“Anti-Jewish hatred should have no place in society and cultural leaders have a role to play in ensuring that is the case,” it said in a statement.

“People who show genuine and meaningful remorse for previous antisemitic behavior will always receive a sympathetic hearing from the Jewish community, but that process must come before this kind of public rehabilitation.”

A representative for Ye didn’t reply to a request for comment.



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Tom Holland calls Christopher Nolan ‘The Odyssey’ ‘an absolute masterpiece’

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Tom Holland calls Christopher Nolan ‘The Odyssey’ ‘an absolute masterpiece’


Tom Holland declared Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic The Odyssey “an absolute masterpiece.”

In a recent interview with GQ, Tom Holland praised Christopher Nolan’s upcoming epic The Odyssey, describing it as “unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

Holland explained that Nolan’s reliance on practical, in-camera effects rather than CGI left him stunned by the sheer scale of the production.

“There were certain sequences in the movie where I’m watching it and I’m just sort of thinking like, ‘How on earth has he done that? That has to be CG,’” Holland said.

“And then after the movie asking him, ‘That was definitely CG, right?’ And he’s like, ‘No, no, no, that’s all in camera effects. Very planned, very prepared.’”

Based on Homer’s legendary poem, The Odyssey stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as Penelope, Holland as Telemachus, and Zendaya as Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war who guides Odysseus through his trials. The ensemble also includes Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, and Charlize Theron.

Holland explained that Nolan’s approach reminded him why audiences still crave the big-screen experience. 

He added, “I am a real advocate for theatrical and the cinema and the communal experience of sitting in a dark room and being entertained. I think that is something for the next 10 years of my life that I will be very focused on.”

With a reported $250 million budget and a July 17, 2026 release date, Nolan’s film is shaping up as one of the year’s most ambitious projects.

More than just a film, it is being positioned as a cultural event: one designed to remind audiences of the enduring power of myth and the magic of theaters.





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Duchess Sophie, Prince Edward private meeting with Andrew: Truth revealed

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Duchess Sophie, Prince Edward private meeting with Andrew: Truth revealed


Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have been living in exile for the past two months ever since he had been kicked out of his Windsor property, Royal Lodge, per King Charles’s orders.

Members of the royal family had publicly maintained their distance from the disgraced ex-prince, but in a surprising turn of events, Prince Edward and Duchess Sophie were the first ones to approach Andrew.

The former Duke of York has been living in Sandringham since it is a privately-owned estate by Charles, to avoid any further uproar from taxpayers. Before he officially moved into Marsh Farm, Sophie and Edward visited his temporary accommodation Wood Farm to do a “welfare check”.

It was previously reported that there were some grievances as the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh were forced to stay at the main house since Andrew was occupying Wood Farm – the holiday let for royals during Easter and other key events.

However, royal sources dismissed to Daily Mail that there was any tension between Edward and Andrew over accommodation.

Duchess Sophie and Prince Edward reportedly had dinner with Andrew one night and talked things through. They “feel sorry” for him and how things have gone downhill for him. Moreover, they expressed concerns about Andrew’s “fragile state of mind” due to recent events.

“They do feel for him, but of course that doesn’t excuse his behaviour,” the source stressed. “It’s a difficult balancing act supporting him while not condoning what he has got involved with.”

Edward has tried to make tried to talk sense into him and has pointed out that Andrew can never return to the royal fold. Only time will tell if Andrew has understood everything briefed to him or if he remains in a delusion.





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Michael J. Fox is not dead!

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Michael J. Fox is not dead!


Michael J. Fox is not dead!

Michael J. Fox’s representative has been forced to shut down a false death rumour after a new outlet accidentally published a tribute video suggesting the actor had died.

“Michael is doing great,” his rep told TMZ on 8 April. “He was at PaleyFest yesterday. He was on stage and was giving interviews.”

CNN published a video titled “Remembering the life of actor Michael J. Fox” before quickly taking it down. 

A spokesperson for the network confirmed the mistake, telling TMZ: “The package was published in error; we have removed it from our platforms and send our apologies to Michael J. Fox and his family.”

The 64-year-old had in fact been very much in the public eye the day before, attending the Shrinking season three finale screening at PaleyFest in Los Angeles on 7 April. 

Fox, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1991 and has been open about his ongoing battle with the condition, spoke to PEOPLE in October about his approach to living with it. 

“You take the good, and you seize it,” he said. “I wake up and get the message of what the day is gonna be like, and I try to adjust to it. I keep getting new challenges physically, and I get through it. I roll around in a wheelchair a lot, and it took some getting used to.”

He shares four children with his wife Tracy Pollan, 65.





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