Kanye West's Netherlands Shows to Proceed Amidst European Backlash
Kanye West, now known as Ye, is set to perform in the Netherlands despite numerous cancellations across Europe due to widespread criticism. Dutch officials found no legal grounds to block his entry.
Two Kanye West shows in the Netherlands are set to go ahead next week, despite widespread cancellations of his shows across the rest of Europe.
The rapper, who now goes by Ye, released his new album ‘Bully’ in March and had been due to play a world tour in support of the new record, but his booking to headline all three nights of London’s Wireless Festival sparked an enormous backlash over his previous anti-Semitic comments.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer was among those to criticise the booking, several sponsors cut their ties with the festival, and the UK Home Office ultimately blocked Ye from being allowed into the country, while Wireless eventually announced that they had cancelled their entire 2026 event.
Since then, shows in Switzerland, Poland and France have also been cancelled, although a handful will go ahead, including one in Albania and two recently confirmed gigs in the Netherlands.
As reported by Reuters, officials in the Netherlands concluded that no evidence had been found in their investigation of West that would constitute him being banned from entering the country.
🚨 KANYE WEST CLEARED TO PERFORM IN NETHERLANDS DESPITE EUROPEAN ENTRY PUSHBACK
Dutch officials say there were no legal grounds to block the rapper’s entry, clearing the way for concerts next month in Arnhem.
Lawmakers had urged a ban over his past remarks, including… pic.twitter.com/IOcSCTVqhS
— NewsForce (@Newsforce) May 29, 2026
“Solid grounds are needed to bar people from entering [the country]. We have not found those in the analyses that were conducted,” Deputy Prime Minister Bart van den Brink said of the rapper.
“His past statements are not, at this moment, a reason to deny him entry.”
He is currently scheduled to perform two concerts in Arnhem’s GelreDome venue, with the first show taking place on June 6 and the second on June 8, the latter coinciding with West’s 49th birthday.
His trek to the Netherlands will kick off the much-discussed European tour, which has been marred by continued backlash in the wake of anti-Semitic comments made by Ye in recent years.
The rapper shared a fresh apology for some of his previous remarks shortly before Wireless was axed, and later addressed the criticism in an update to his Wall Street Journal “to those I’ve hurt” letter, which he originally shared in January.
West’s history of making antisemitic remarks dates back to 2022, when he made a series of offensive comments on social media. Those comments saw his accounts on both Instagram and Twitter suspended, and the musician was dropped by his lawyer, talent agency and record label, along with fashion brands such as Balenciaga and Adidas.
At first, West gave several interviews, refusing to apologise for making the comments while suggesting that Jewish people should “forgive Hitler”. However, in 2023, West delivered an apology to the Jewish community, going on to blame alcohol for his behaviour the following year.
In the wake of that initial apology, numerous lawsuits were filed against the rapper with claims of extensive antisemitic behaviour. One former employee alleged that the rapper said Jewish people were “working together to hold him back”.
Another former employee claimed he used antisemitic language in the workplace and praised Hitler – something for which he allegedly paid a settlement for. In 2024, a separate ex-employee accused him of being openly antisemitic in front of his staff.
West also shared a number of highly controversial posts in early 2025, when he took back an apology he previously made to the Jewish community for antisemitic remarks, and then declared himself “a Nazi”. The rapper then claimed on X/Twitter that, “after further reflection”, he’d “come to the realisation that I’m not a Nazi”, followed only a few days later by yet more swastika apparel appearing on his X page.
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