A 103,000-capacity arena. One prefect in northern Italy just shut it all down. West’s antisemitic remarks have now cost him stages across six countries, and Scott’s shadow of Astroworld followed him straight into the ban.
Image Source: X
Italy has banned two concerts involving American rappers Kanye West and Travis Scott that were due to take place in July in the northern city of Reggio Emilia. West, now known as Ye, was scheduled to headline the Hellwat Festival on July 18 at the RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia. Scott was expected to perform at the RCF Arena on July 17.
The city’s prefect, Salvatore Angieri, took the decision on grounds of public order and safety. Authorities cited the close timing of the two shows and the high influx of spectators expected within 24 hours as factors behind the ban. They also pointed to the cancellation of other Ye concerts in Europe and the “concrete risk” of protests.
Advertisement
The venue has a capacity of 103,000 spectators, which would have made it one of West’s biggest arena appearances ever, according to organisers.
Advertisement
The ban covers both back-to-back events at the Pulse of Gaia Festival.
The event, initially called the Hellwatt Festival and later renamed Pulse of Gaia, was unveiled in February as a highly ambitious project for Italy.
The measure was adopted after the provincial committee met on 25 May, in response to requests submitted by consumer group Codacons and the Jewish community of Modena and Reggio Emilia.
Reggio Emilia’s Jewish community, anti-fascist resistance groups, trade unions and politicians had called for West’s concert to be canceled in April due to the rapper’s antisemitic remarks.
West, also known as Ye, has faced a wave of cancellations across Europe this summer following years of antisemitic remarks, including statements praising Adolf Hitler and the release of content using Nazi imagery. West, who has said “I Love Nazis” on social media, sold T-shirts with a swastika on his website, and last year released a song called “Heil Hitler.”
He published a full-page apology in the Wall Street Journal in January, attributing his behavior to manic episodes caused by bipolar disorder.
In the case of Scott, his presence on the bill the day before also carried weight: in 2021, eight people died in a crowd crush at one of his concerts in Houston.
Scott has remained under scrutiny over concert safety since the 2021 Astroworld crowd crush in Houston, where 10 people died and hundreds were injured.
Authorities viewed two massive shows on consecutive days at the same venue as an unacceptable compounding of risk.
Italy is not alone. In April, Britain denied Ye entry on the grounds his presence would not be conducive to the public good. Later that month, he also postponed a Marseille show after reports the French government had sought to block it, while concerts in Poland and Switzerland were also cancelled.
The Wireless Festival in London was abruptly cancelled after the UK denied entry to Ye over past antisemitic remarks.
Ye has continued to perform in countries that have welcomed him, and was due to hold a concert in Istanbul on the same Saturday the Italy ban was announced. He is also going to hold concerts in the Netherlands next month after the migration minister said there were no legal grounds to block him.
Advertisement
