Photo Credit: František Zelinka
The rapper formerly known as Kanye West will not be performing in Prague after the venue set to host him backed out. It’s the latest cancelled show for the outwardly antisemitic artist.
Kanye West, who now goes by Ye, was set to perform in Prague as part of his proposed comeback tour, but the show has been cancelled after the venue set to host him backed out. That makes the latest country to say no to the noted antisemitic rapper.
Organized by Slovak producer Hugo Varga, the show was scheduled to take place on July 25th at a horse track. It was cancelled by venue owner Zuzana Rambová, who didn’t cite a specific reason for the move, but confirmed that the arena “terminated the organizer’s contract.”
Notably, Varga was one of the organizers of a Slovak rap festival scheduled for last summer, where Ye was also scheduled to perform. But local protests against the event combined with logistics concerns led to the rapper withdrawing from the lineup, and the festival was ultimately cancelled.
Varga defended Ye at the time, blaming the failure of the festival on financial regulations and asserting that the rapper shouldn’t be barred from performing. Similarly, Rambová said that Ye should be free to perform despite his past antisemitic remarks.
The show in Prague is the latest in a series of cancelled performances since Ye began publicly making antisemitic statements. In April, the rapper was denied a visa to the UK for the Wireless Festival, where Ye was announced as a headliner. Ultimately, the entire event was scrapped.
Just a week later, the rapper postponed a planned show in Marseille after rumors that French authorities were looking to cancel it. Since then, shows in Poland, Italy, and other countries have also been cancelled, citing concerns over Ye’s antisemitism. The rapper successfully performed two shows in the Netherlands on June 6 and June 8 after the Dutch Deputy Prime Minister confirmed they investigated his past statements but found insufficient legal grounds for barring him from the country.
In late 2022, Ye began making antisemitic remarks on social media, which led to a deluge of cancellations from sponsors and business partners. Earlier this year, the rapper issued a full-page public apology in The Wall Street Journal, blaming his antisemitic remarks on untreated bipolar disorder and a car accident he was in years ago.
