Italy bans Kanye West concert over security concerns

ROME — A concert by the US rapper Kanye West, who was supposed to perform on July 18 in Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, has been banned on public safety grounds, the authorities said. The prefect of the province, Salvatore Angieri, said the decision was made following requests from bodies including the local Jewish community. They had "expressed reservations" about the appearance of the rapper as part of the Pulse of Gaia Festival, the statement released on Friday evening said. Another concert by the US rapper Travis Scott on July 17 has also been scrapped. "The decision... was taken for reasons of protection of public order and safety, in view of the close timing of the events and the large crowd expected within a 24-hour period," the prefecture said. "In the overall assessment, the cancellation of previous concerts by the American rapper in other countries and the concrete risk of counter-demonstration also weighed in." West, who is also known as Ye, has sparked controversy with statements and songs glorifying Adolf Hitler as well as antisemitic diatribes, which he blamed on his bipolar disorder. The scandal has led to the cancellation of a string of concerts. Last month, the UK government banned him from entering the country, and a festival at which he was due to appear in July was canceled. He was also forced to scrap a planned concert in the southern French city of Marseille, while he has also been stopped from performing in Poland and Switzerland. West performed in Istanbul on Saturday and is still due to appear at concerts in the Netherlands on June 6 and 8, in Tirana on July 11, and Prague on July 25. In January, he took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal in which he said he was "not a Nazi or an antisemite," adding: "I love Jewish people."