- Kanye West postpones his concert in Marseilles, France due to the interior minister’s plan to block his performance.
- Kanye’s history of antisemitic comments has led to him being banned from performing in the UK and facing potential ban in France.
- Kanye acknowledges his need to make amends and says he doesn’t want to put his fans in the middle of the controversy.
Ye–the artist formerly known as Kanye West–has decided to cancel his concert in Marseille, France.
The controversial rapper took to social media on Tuesday, April 14, to announce his decision to postpone his concert in France. This comes shortly after reports that the country’s interior minister was seeking to block Ye from performing due to his history of antisemitic remarks.
“After much thought and consideration, it is my sole decision to postpone my show in Marseille, France until further notice,” the Chicago native wrote on X.
He followed that up with another tweet, writing: “I know it takes time to understand the sincerity of my commitment to make amends I take full responsibility for what’s mine but I don’t want to put my fans in the middle of it My fans are everything to me Looking forward to the next shows See you at the top of the globe.”
On Tuesday, a source close to the interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, told Agence France-Presse that he was “highly determined” to ban the concert, planned for June 11, and was exploring “all possibilities” for the situation.
This action comes following a similar situation in Britain, after the United Kingdom blocked the rapper from entering the country. That decision prompted organizers of Wireless festival–which Ye was set to headline in July–to cancel their entire event.
The aforementioned French source also said that Nuñez had discussed the possible concert ban with the regional prefect and the mayor of Marseille during his visit to the city last week. But, instead of waiting for the result of their conversation, Kanye decided to cancel the show himself.
Just last month, Benoît Payan, the mayor of Marseille, said he was not in favor of the rapper’s visit, saying he refused “to allow Marseille to be a showcase for those who promote hatred and unabashed Nazism.”
“Kanye West is not welcome at the Vélodrome, our temple of living together and belonging to all Marseillais,” Payan wrote on X at the time.
Among other controversial actions, in May 2025, Ye released a song called “Heil Hitler,” which came after selling a swastika T-shirt on his website. Earlier this year, he took out an ad in the Wall Street Journal to apologize to those he’s hurt, attributing his string of antisemitic remarks partly to his bipolar disorder.
Before being banned from the U.K., Kanye said he would be willing to meet with London’s Jewish community to attempt to make amends.
“I know words aren’t enough – I’ll have to show change through my actions,” he said.
That wasn’t enough for the powers that be, but as of now, it looks like Ye is sticking to his guns on his apology tour.
