A music festival in Slovakia has been cancelled after thousands signed a petition against the performance of rapper Kanye West, who was referred to as “one of the world’s most famous anti-semites.”
In May, West, who also goes by Ye, released a song entitled Heil Hitler, which includes part of a speech given by Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. West has written
antisemitic posts on social media the past
. In February, he bought an ad that played during the 2025 Super Bowl promoting his brand, Yeezy, which was only
selling white T-shirts with swastikas
at the time.
The
, called Kanye West Does Not Belong in Bratislava, garnered more than 6,200 signatures online. It described West as someone who has “repeatedly and openly espoused the symbolism and ideology associated with the darkest period of modern world history.”
It concluded: “Today we have the opportunity to say clearly and publicly that there is no place on our soil for those who celebrate a perverse regime that has taken the lives of millions of people.”
During the Second World War, 70,000 Jews were deported from Slovakia by German and Slovak authorities, according to the
U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
. More than 60,000 of them were murdered.
The Rubicon Festival was scheduled for the weekend of July 18, featuring American rappers Ken Carson, Offset and Kanye West as headliners, in Bratislava. In a post on Instagram on Wednesday, festival organizers said it would “not take place this year.”
“Due to media pressure and the withdrawal of several artists and partners, we were unable to deliver the festival at the standard of quality you deserve,” it said. The organizers did not mention West by name. They said information regarding refunds would be sent via email within two weeks.
According to
, after receiving backlash, festival organizers said that they included West in their lineup because he had apologized for his remarks.
However, one of the petition’s co-authors disagreed with allowing the rapper to perform, despite his apology.
“Such opinions should have no place in a democratic society and we do not want to give such role models to our young people,” Zuzana Izsáková told the publication.
Before the festival was cancelled, Bratislava Mayor Matúš Vallo said he would not support having West as a headliner.
“West praises Adolf Hitler, has called himself a Nazi, speaks out against Jews, sells swastika T-shirts on his online shop, and just a few weeks ago, he caused further outrage with his song ‘Heil Hitler.’ What Kanye West is preaching is in complete contradiction to my values and I am convinced that it is also with the values of our city,” he said,
.
“I know that the organizers are trying to solve the difficult logistics of the festival and obtain all the necessary opinions and approvals from the institutions concerned, but under these circumstances they cannot count on any support from the city.”
Petition organizer Lucia Stasselova posted on her Instagram account over the weekend, saying West had deleted a post on social media about performing at the festival.
“This petition did something important: draw attention to what is and what is not okay. And maybe we helped prevent another international shame,” she wrote in the caption, translated to English. “We don’t have to be ashamed of what country we live in. Because this is the power of civil society — it has a voice. And it has meaning.”
This comes after Australia cancelled West’s visa. The rapper’s wife, Bianca Censori, is Australian and he has visited the country for some time, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said, per Agence France-Presse. The cancellation comes after officials took a closer look into West’s visa upon the release of Heil Hitler. The visa was not intended for performing concerts, but was a “lower level,” he told Australian broadcaster ABC.
West is reportedly in China for a concert, according to
. In June,
about the gig, saying West was expected to hit the stage in in Shanghai on July 12.
also reported about the upcoming performance.
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