Italian authorities have banned two upcoming concerts involving rappers Kanye West and Travis Scott that were scheduled to take place in July, citing “public order and safety issues.”
West, who legally changed his name to Ye, was scheduled to perform at the Pulse of Gaia festival at the RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia on July 18, and Scott was set to perform on July 17 at Hellwatt festival.
The government of Reggio Emilia held a meeting following the requests presented by the Jewish community of Modena and Reggio Emilia, “which expressed concerns regarding the concert by rapper Kanye West.”
“The meeting was dedicated to examining the public order and safety issues associated with the American artist’s (West) concert and the Travis Scott event, also scheduled at the RCF Arena,” a statement issued by the government of Reggio Emilia said.
“Based on the assessments made during the committee meeting and further investigations into safety and security aspects, the prefect … (ordered) the prohibition of both concerts.
“The decision concerns two events scheduled for consecutive dates at the RCF Arena, a venue with a capacity of approximately 103,000 spectators, and was made to ensure public order and safety … given the close temporal connection between the events and the large crowds expected within 24 hours.
“The overall assessment also took into account the cancellation of previous concerts by the American rapper in other countries and the real risk of counter-demonstrations,” the statement added.
The local Jewish community and an Italian consumer rights organization had raised concerns about West’s concert.
The consumer rights organization, Codacons, released a statement following the news of West’s cancelled concert and revealed that it had sent a formal notice to the Prefect of Reggio Emilia to request the concert be cancelled for “public order reasons.”
“The artist’s presence is currently at the center of a widespread and growing international controversy, fueled by his public statements and conduct, which have already been the subject of strong institutional backlash,” Codacons wrote in its request.
“His participation could generate tension, protests, and potential public disorder. This risk appears real, current, and foreseeable in light of objective and converging factors: the international media outcry, previous bans and postponements adopted in other European countries for reasons of public order, as well as the foreseeable mobilization of opposing groups during an event of extraordinary importance and high attendance.”
“In this context, the precautionary principle applies fully, requiring the administrative authority to intervene even in the presence of a potential risk, when primary concerns such as public safety and security are involved. It cannot be tolerated that an event already deemed problematic from a public order perspective in other European countries be authorized in Italy without a rigorous prior assessment,” the group added in its request.
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Codacons said it expresses satisfaction with the decision to cancel West’s concert but also said it believes that concerts by Italian rappers should be banned as “through their lyrics and behavior, they spread ideas of violence, racism, sexism and homophobia among young people.”
West and Scott have not released statements regarding the cancelled concerts as of this writing.
The move comes after Britain banned West from entering the country following his history of antisemitic comments.
He was scheduled to perform as a headliner at the Wireless Festival in July but as a result of West’s denied entry, the festival announced that its 2026 event would be cancelled.
The festival’s organizers confirmed the ban and said the entire three-day festival has been nixed.
“As a result of the Home Office banning YE from entering the United Kingdom, Wireless Festival has been forced to cancel. All ticket holders will receive an automatic full refund,” a note on the official website read.
West made an application to travel to the U.K. via an Electronic Travel Authorization, but it has now been blocked by officials on the grounds that the performer’s presence in the country would not be “conducive to the public good,” the BBC said, citing the Home Office.
A senior member of the British government said that West should “absolutely not” play the Wireless Festival as the rapper offered to meet members of the U.K.’s Jewish community to show he purportedly changed since provoking outrage with multiple antisemitic statements over the past year.
The All Falls Down rapper said he “would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the U.K. in person, to listen.”
“I know words aren’t enough — I’ll have to show change through my actions,” West said. “If you’re open, I’m here.”
This comes after West released a pro-Nazi song called Heil Hitler last year and advertised a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website. West apologized in January with a letter, published as a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal. He said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”
West had previously been barred from entering Australia last July following the release of Heil Hitler.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said West had been travelling for years to Australia, where his wife, Bianca Censori, was born. Her family lives in Melbourne.
Burke said Heil Hitler promotes Nazism. The song, released last May, has been criticized as an antisemitic tribute to Hitler. It was also banned in Germany and from online platforms, including Apple Music, YouTube and Spotify.
“If you’re going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don’t need that in Australia,” Burke added. “We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry.”
He noted that the Australian government had not banned West from entering Australia permanently because “every visa application gets reassessed by my officials each time.”
The concert cancellations come five years after Scott’s deadly Astroworld festival in Houston, where 50,000 people were in the audience.
Scott’s set turned deadly as fans surged toward the stage. The youngest victim was nine-year-old Ezra Blount. The others who died ranged in age from 14 to 27. Some 300 people were injured and treated at the festival site and 25 were taken to hospitals.
More than 300 lawsuits have been filed so far in Houston and will be consolidated and handled by one judge. Scott, concert promoter Live Nation and other companies associated with the event are among those being sued. Additionally, Scott and the event organizers are the focus of a criminal investigation by Houston police. No one has been charged and no timetable has been set for when the investigation will be completed.
West performed in Istanbul over the weekend amid the ongoing controversy. Scott also joined West on stage during the show.
West reportedly drew a crowd of over 118,000 to Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium on Saturday.
“I just want to tell y’all, we just broke the record, 118,000, largest stadium performance of all time,” West told the audience, according to Billboard.
—with files from The Associated Press
