Kanye West Postpones Marseille Concert After France Considers Ban

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, took to X on Tuesday night to announce that he has postponed his upcoming concert in Marseille, after the office of French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed it was exploring paths to ban him from performing in France’s oldest city.

“After much thought and consideration, it is my sole decision to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice,” West wrote.

Benoit Payan, the mayor of Marseille, also took a stand against West in an X post on March 4. He wrote, “I refuse to let Marseille be a showcase for those who promote hatred and unapologetic Nazism. Kanye West is not welcome at the Vélodrome, our temple of living together and of all Marseillais.”

While the threat was enough to get the 24-time Grammy winner to indefinitely push his show, actually banning West from performing in Marseille may have proved difficult. According to the French newspaper Le Monde, citing France’s highest administrative court, “local state authorities can only ban a concert under strict conditions, if statements at the event risk constituting a criminal offense and if public order is threatened.”

Nuñez reportedly met last week with Payan and the prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, Jacques Witkowski, to work toward barring West from performing in Marseille.

On April 7, the U.K. government denied West entry into the country after he was booked to headline London’s Wireless Festival in July. Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that West “should never have been invited to perform” in the first place due to his antisemitic past. Sponsors dropped out of the event shortly after. West later issued a statement saying that he was open to meeting with leaders of the local Jewish community, but the festival was cancelled.