A mayor in Texas is calling for Kanye West’s upcoming concert in San Antonio to be cancelled because of his record of “hate speech and anti-semitic comments”.
The mayor of San Antonio, Texas has called for Kanye West’s concert in the city to be cancelled.
The controversial rapper’s comeback tour this summer in support of his new album Bully has been blighted by cancellations – including three nights at London’s Wireless Festival and gigs in Switzerland, Poland, and France – following a huge backlash over his previous anti-semitic comments.
He’s planning to take the tour to Texas with a huge show at San Antonio’s Alamodome venue on America’s Independence Day – July 4 – but Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones is adamant the concert should not go ahead. In a post on X, Jones wrote: “I support canceling the @kanyewest concert.
“Military City USA should not host someone with a record of hate speech and antisemitic comments in a city-funded facility like our Alamodome – not ever, and certainly not on July 4th, our Nation’s 250th birthday.
“Standing up to anti-semitism is exactly what it takes to achieve a more perfect Union.”
The 48-year-old rapper’s tour started to fall apart after he was booked to headline three nights at the Wireless Festival in London and the whole event was axed after the star was blocked from coming to the UK by the Home Office.
The Wireless cancellation followed criticism from UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who went on to defend the decision not to let West enter the country.
In a post on X, he wrote: “This government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of antisemitism.
“We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.”
Another concert at St Jakob-Park – the home ground of soccer team FC Basel – in Basel, Switzerland was called off with representatives for the football club declaring the gig was “not in accordance with our values”, adding: “FCB [ FC Basel] received an enquiry and considered it.
“However, after thorough review, we have decided not to proceed with the project, as we cannot, in accordance with our values, provide a platform for the artist in question within this context.”
In addition, his first gig in Poland in 15 years, which had been due to take place at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow on 19 June, was axed.
In a statement posted on the venue’s website, stadium director Adam Strzyzewski explained: “The concert by Ye (Kanye West), scheduled for 19 June 2026 at the Superauto.pl Silesian Stadium, will not take place due to formal and legal reason.”
The cancellation came after Poland’s culture minister, Marta Cienkowska, criticised plans for West’s gig because of his previous anti-Semitic comments and expression of admiration for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
In a post on X, Cienkowska wrote: “The decision to organize a Kanye West concert in Poland is unacceptable. We are talking about an artist who has publicly expressed antisemitic views, downplayed crimes, and profited from selling swastika T-shirts.
“These are not ‘controversies’. This is a deliberate crossing of boundaries and the normalization of hatred. In a country scarred by the history of the Holocaust, we cannot pretend that this is just entertainment.
“Artistic freedom does not mean giving a free pass to everything. Culture cannot be a space for those who exploit it to spread hatred.”
West’s show in Marseille, France on June 11 was postponed “until further notice”, according to the rapper.
