![\"Several](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2f1965f6895b5218aa45ed5157191d5f.jpeg\"\/)
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Several Italian politicians and union leaders have said that they are not in favor of Kanye West performing in their country.Wikimedia Commons\/Jason Persse<\/p>\n
Kanye West has been facing trouble with his planned European comeback tour.<\/p>\n
In yet another roadblock for West, the Italian government is now under pressure to cancel his appearance at the Hellwatt Festival.<\/p>\n
Trade unions, politicians and public voices have called for West’s ban over his past antisemitic remarks.<\/p>\n
So far, the controversy has already led to bans in countries like the United Kingdom, France and Poland.<\/p>\n
Although West has issued an apology for his previous controversial comments, he is still witnessing a steep decline in demand, with Italy being the latest country to raise concern.<\/p>\n
Kanye West Faces Opposition Ahead of Italy Concert<\/p>\n
West was set to headline the Hellwatt Festival on July 18 in the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia, but growing criticism has put the show at risk.<\/p>\n
Although thousands of tickets have already been sold, political leaders are now urging authorities to cancel his performance.<\/p>\n
Pina Picierno, vice president of the European Parliament, told local newspaper La Gazzetta di Reggio<\/a>, \u201cThe United Kingdom denied the visa. France effectively prevented the Marseille concert. Italy, meanwhile, is just staying idle with 68,000 tickets sold, as if nothing had happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Rosamaria Papaleo, a representative of the Italian Confederation of Workers\u2019 Unions, told CBS News<\/a>, \u201cIt seems quite contradictory that an artist known for his antisemitic remarks can be hosted by our city, which has always strongly advocated anti-fascist values. Anti-fascism for us is not a whim, but a value rooted in our history.\u201d<\/p>\n Following concerns shown by from Italian leaders, West’s upcoming concert seems to be at stake.<\/p>\n Previously, his concerts in Poland and Switzerland were cancelled, followed by his headline performance at London\u2019s Wireless Festival being blocked.<\/p>\n Later, West also had to postpone his June 11 concert in Marseille, France.<\/p>\n Hellwatt Festival Founder Defends Booking Kanye West<\/p>\n Meanwhile, despite opposition from Italian leaders, Victor Yari Milani, the founder and artistic director of the Hellwatt Festival, defended his decision of of booking him.<\/p>\n Calling the event a space for free artistic expression, Milani stood by his decision.<\/p>\n \u201cThe artist\u2019s past comments have certainly provoked a legitimate reaction, but we also want to remember that Ye formally apologized through the Wall Street Journal in January, stating that he is not a N*zi or antisemite but suffers from bipolar disorder,\u201d he said in a statement<\/a> to Italian news agency ANSA.<\/p>\n West has linked his past behavior to mental health struggles, including his 2016 diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which he says worsened after a serious car crash in 2002.<\/p>\n The rapper also admitted losing touch with reality during manic episodes and expressed regret for promoting \u201cthe most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, while controversy continues in Italy, West’s European tour still includes scheduled stops in Turkey, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.<\/p>\n It remains to be seen whether the rapper manages to make his European comebacks with either of the countries.<\/p>\n Read more at Morning Honey. <\/a><\/p>\n Get Morning Honey delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now<\/a>.<\/p>\n FOLLOW MORNING HONEY ON WHATSAPP HERE<\/a>: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, entertainment, and pop culture via our WhatsApp channel<\/a>. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Several Italian politicians and union leaders have said that they are not in favor of Kanye West performing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9588,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7123,2168,5,2315,6647],"class_list":{"0":"post-9587","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-italy","8":"tag-italian-leaders","9":"tag-italian-politicians","10":"tag-italy","11":"tag-kanye-west","12":"tag-wireless-festival"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9587\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}