Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez is “very determined” to ban the concert of American rapper Kanye West, due to his anti-Semitic remarks, scheduled for June 11 at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille, we learned on Tuesday from his entourage.
The minister is studying “all possibilities” to ban the rapper’s only concert in France, his entourage told AFP, confirming information from the newspaper Libération.
Kanye West, also known as Ye, was banned from entering the United Kingdom for concerts in July while the Netherlands said it does not plan a ban for his concerts scheduled for early June.
According to those close to Laurent Nuñez, the minister discussed the ban on the concert with the prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, Jacques Witkowski, and the mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, during his visit to the Marseille city last week.
“Hate and uninhibited Nazism”
At the beginning of March, the left-wing mayor declared that he wanted to oppose the rapper’s coming to his city. “I refuse to allow Marseille to be a showcase for those who promote hatred and uninhibited Nazism. Kanye West is not welcome at the Vélodrome, our temple of living together and of all the people of Marseille,” Benoît Payan declared on X.
On April 7, the British government announced that it would ban the American musician from entering the United Kingdom for concerts in July due to his anti-Semitic outbursts in recent years.
In the process, the organizers of the Wireless Festival, of which the rapper was the headliner, announced the cancellation of the event which was to be held from July 10 to 12 in London.
In contrast, the Netherlands did not plan to ban Ye’s concerts on June 6 and 8, arguing that a potential risk to public order or national security was necessary to ban anyone from entering the country, according to Asylum and Migration Minister Bart van den Brink.
The 48-year-old American rapper has lost many fans and several commercial contracts in recent years after making anti-Semitic and racist comments. He notably stated in 2023 that he “loved the Nazis”, put a t-shirt adorned with a swastika on sale on his website and released a title in May 2025 called “Heil Hitler”, banned by the main streaming platforms.
