Swiss football club turns down Kanye West concert over antisemitic comments

The US rapper had a string of performances in Europe lined up over the coming months, but several have been cancelled or postponed in the last fortnight.

The 48-year-old artist, also known as Ye, has been heavily criticised for making antisemitic remarks and voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler.

Reigning Swiss champions Basel said they were interested in making more use of the venue and carefully reviewed all enquiries.

“In this case, FCB received an enquiry and considered it,” a spokesman for the club said.

“However, after a thorough review, we decided not to pursue the project further, as we cannot, in accordance with our values, provide a platform for the artist in question.

The musician and producer has lost fans and several sponsorships in recent years following inflammatory comments and actions.

No Basel concert was ever officially confirmed. It is understood that FC Basel was approached about a possible June 26th concert date but turned down the enquiry.

Britain has blocked the US rapper from entering the country due to his outbursts, prompting organisers of a three-night London festival he was headlining to cancel the July event.

West then announced last week that a concert he had planned to give in the French city of Marseille on June 11th had been postponed after authorities voiced opposition.

And a concert scheduled to take place in Poland on June 19th was cancelled by the venue in Chorzow on Friday, following condemnation of his antisemitic remarks.

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West has previously said “I love Nazis”, sold t-shirts featuring a swastika on his website, and last year released a track titled “Heil Hitler”, which was banned by the main streaming platforms.

In January this year, he took out a full-page advert in The Wall Street Journal newspaper to declare “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite”. He attributed his controversial behaviour to a “manic episode” brought on by bipolar disorder.