Italy cancels concerts of Kanye West and Travis Scott

Italian authorities have cancelled upcoming concerts by Kanye West and Travis Scott that were due to take place in July at a major arena in northern Italy, citing security concerns.

Both shows had been scheduled at the RCF Arena in Reggio Emilia, Scott on 17 July and West headlining the Hellwat Festival on 18 July. 

The venue holds 103,000 spectators, which would have made it one of West's largest arena appearances ever. 

Reggio Emilia prefect Salvatore Angieri announced the cancellation on Saturday, pointing to the sheer volume of people expected to come to the city within a 24-hour window, as well as what he described as a "concrete risk" of protests surrounding West's appearance.

The call to cancel West's show had been building since April, when the city's Jewish community, anti-fascist resistance groups, trade unions and politicians called for his concert to be pulled. 

West, who now goes by Ye, has made a series of widely condemned antisemitic statements, sold T-shirts bearing a swastika on his website and released a song last year titled Heil Hitler. 

He has faced bans and cancelled shows across the UK, France, Switzerland and Poland. 

In January, he published a full-page apology in the Wall Street Journal, attributing his behaviour to manic episodes brought on by bipolar disorder.

Scott's concert was caught up in the same decision, though authorities were clear the cancellation in his case was a security consideration rather than a ban on the artist performing in Italy. 

Scott's own history with large crowds is significant, ten people died in a crowd crush at his Astroworld festival in Houston in 2021.

The Hellwat Festival organisers said they would attempt to rebook West's show on the same date at a different venue near Reggio Emilia, under a different jurisdiction.

The cancellations come just a day after West launched his European summer tour with a concert at Istanbul's Atatürk Olympic Stadium, reportedly drawing a crowd of 118,000, a figure West claimed made it the largest stadium performance in history. 

Scott also performed at the show, the pair having recently collaborated on the track Father from West's latest album Bully. 

Fans reportedly travelled from the UK, the US, Germany, Poland, Russia and Kazakhstan to attend. 

West's remaining European dates currently include the Netherlands on 6 and 8 June, Tirana, Albania on 11 July, and Prague on 25 July.