Kanye West, Travis Scott Concerts Canceled in Italy Over Safety Concerns

Concerts by Kanye West and Travis Scott, slated for July 17 and 18 at the Rcf Arena in Reggio Emilia, Italy, will not proceed. The city's Prefect, Salvatore Angieri, officially prohibited the events citing public order and safety concerns.

The decision followed a meeting of the provincial committee for order and public safety, convened after complaints from the Codacons consumer group and the Jewish communities of Modena and Reggio Emilia regarding Kanye West's planned performance at the 'Pulse of Gaia Festival.' The committee examined public safety aspects related to both artists' performances.

The Prefettura of Reggio Emilia stated that the prohibition was based on assessments of safety and security, considering the close temporal proximity of the events and the anticipated large crowd of approximately 103,000 spectators within a 24-hour period. The cancellation also took into account previous concert cancellations involving the US rapper in other countries and the concrete risk of counter-demonstrations.

Kanye West recently arrived in Istanbul for a highly anticipated concert, marking his return to European stages after 11 years. Travis Scott's Istanbul performance is his only scheduled date in Turkey, with his summer tour including stops in the Netherlands, Georgia, Spain, and Albania, but no longer Reggio Emilia. Several European concert dates for both artists had previously been canceled due to Kanye West's controversial antisemitic statements, including past glorifications of Adolf Hitler, for which he later apologized. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had expressed determination to ban West's Marseille concert, and the British government had previously banned the rapper from entering the UK.