Kanye West concert in Poland canceled after government criticism

(AFP) U.S. rapper Kanye West's concert scheduled for June in Poland was canceled, officials at the stadium where it was to be held said Friday, shortly after the government expressed opposition because of the artist's anti-Semitic statements.

Concerts by Kanye West, also known as Ye, have also recently been canceled in France and the United Kingdom.

The performance scheduled for June 19 at the Chorzów stadium in southern Poland "will not take place for legal and administrative reasons," the venue's manager said in a statement on its website.

Previously, Culture Minister Marta Cienkowska had expressed her opposition to the concert.

"Kanye West's widely commented actions, related to his promotion of Nazism, are in manifest contradiction with the Polish raison d'état," she said.

Cienkowska called on the organizers "not to make public space available to promoters of a criminal ideology," in a statement sent to AFP.

The 48-year-old U.S. rapper lost numerous fans and several commercial contracts in recent years after making anti-Semitic and racist comments.

In 2023 he claimed he "worshipped Nazis," put a T-shirt with a swastika for sale on his website and released a song in May 2025 titled "Heil Hitler," banned on major streaming platforms.

In January this year, he published an ad in The Wall Street Journal with the message, "I am not a Nazi or anti-Semite" and "I love the Jewish people" and attributed his behavior to a "manic episode" due to a bipolar disorder.