Following concert cancellations in London and Poland and a postponement in France, it appears Ye’s shows will go on as scheduled in the Netherlands.
While pressure is mounting from members of parliament and the public to ban Ye (formerly Kanye West), who’s slated to perform at Gelredome Stadium in Arnhem on June 6 and June 8, for his antisemitic rhetoric, Arnhem Mayor Ahmed Marcouch doesn’t see a legal basis to ban him from entering the Netherlands and performing.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
“Members of Parliament have the power to make laws, so instead of constantly posting all kinds of messages on X, they can also limit behavior they deem undesirable by law,” Marcouch told Dutch outlet NRC, while previously stating he found West’s past antisemitic remarks “disgusting.”
He explained that the process of approving West’s permits to perform in the Netherlands is still in motion as of Friday (April 17).
“Within the framework of the law, the mayor should not pass judgment on the content of a cultural activity. That concerns freedom of expression,” he added. “What I can look at are the permit applications for the two concerts. They are currently being processed as we speak. This concerns, among other things, safety and public order. If the organization meets the requirements of the permit, then we simply have to grant that permit.”
Earlier in April, minister Van den Brink explained that there’s “no legal basis” to ban West from entering the Netherlands to perform based on his previous statements. “Based on what is currently known to me, I have no indication that an entry ban may apply to this,” he said, according to RTL News.
Essentially, Mayor Marcouch agreed with the minister and that would only change if laws are adjusted or West continued to make antisemitic remarks.
“Making racist and antisemitic statements is already a punishable offense. But he has to make them first. Now it concerns someone who did something in the past and, for that reason, would not be allowed to come to the Netherlands,” he added. “Regarding that, the Minister rightly said, ‘There is no legal basis for that.’”
Mayor Marcouch said that the public statements are for naught unless there are legal adjustments or a change in Ye’s behavior.
“I observe that Members of Parliament want something and call upon the Minister to do something, while the Minister says, ‘I have no legal basis to deny that man entry.’ If the Minister comes to that conclusion after all the indignation and calls from the House, then you shouldn’t start shouting again that someone is not allowed to come,” the mayor stated. “Then you have to create a legal basis so that the Minister can do those kinds of things.”
He continued: “I am also pleased that in our constitutional state, as a citizen, you are not dependent on the arbitrariness of a mayor or any other authority. That the law prevails,” he concluded.
West was denied a travel visa by the U.K. government, which led to the cancellation of Wireless Fest. As backlash mounted from French authorities, Ye took it upon himself to postpone a June concert slated for Marseille’s Stade Vélodrome in France.
On Friday (April 17), A rep for Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, Poland, where West was set to perform on June 19, told Wyborcza that “the concert will not take place.”
Per the Yeezy website, Ye still has concerts scheduled for New Delhi, Istanbul, the Netherlands, Italy, Madrid and Portugal later this year.
West is still dealing with the fallout from his antisemitism and hate speech in recent years, which included selling a swastika T-shirt and releasing a song titled “Heil Hitler.”
Looking to work his way back into the public’s good graces, Ye issued an apology in The Wall Street Journal in January, which saw him address the Jewish and Black communities, and West met with a rabbi in November 2025.
On the music front, Yeezy released his Bully album on March 28, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The Chicago native returned to the stage in the U.S. with two SoFi Stadium shows on April 1 and April 3.
