Amid protests over Kanye West‘s scheduled headline performance, the upcoming music festival in Slovakia has been cancelled!
Marking what the organizers claimed was his only European show of 2025, the Rubicon Festival was scheduled outside of Bratislava on July 20, However, given the artist’s history of antisemitic and pro-Nazi statements, the event faced pressure from protesters about his booking with local Slovak artists dropping out in response.
On Wednesday (7.09,) the festival took to social media confirming that the July 18 thru 20 event, would no longer go ahead “due to external pressure and logistical challenges.”
“It is with regret that we announce: Rubicon Festival will not take place this year. This was not an easy decision. 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.” “We understand this news is disappointing, and we truly apologize for any inconvenience it may have caused,’ wrote the Rubicon Festival.
In June, a petition signed by more than 6,000 people called for West to be dropped from the festival line-up, accusing the hip-hop star of “repeatedly and openly adhering to symbols and (an) ideology connected with the darkest period of modern global history”.
In addition to his antisemitic statements, the embattled rapper also released ‘Heil Hitler,’ the pro-Nazi song and sold swastika T-shirts on his website earlier this year.
Local Slovakia media claimed the venue was still an unharvested wheat field outside of Bratislava, while another reported that the rapper will perform in Prague, Czech Republic in September instead.
At press time, Kanye West has yet to address the cancellation.
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Oto Zapletal