Money appears to have taken precedence over morality, as Kanye West played two Live Nation-supported shows at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium last week, and the concerts reportedly grossed $33 million.
Despite multiple cancellations and more than many people could afford, Kanye (now known as Ye) performed one of the highest-grossing shows of all time at the stadium, proving that there is still a huge demand to hear his music and see him perform.
This is despite Kanye’s statements on social media over the past 18 months, such as “I love Hitler,” “I’m a Nazi,” “I control my wife,” “All white people are racist,” and “Jews were good slaves.” He also profited from selling T-shirts with Nazi swastikas on his website, made various anti-Semitic statements, and released the song “Heil Hitler.”
“He’s making money. That’s kind of the feeling,” a music business analyst told Page Six on condition of anonymity.
“With Ye, at the end of the day, it’s a gamble, and you know there’s a certain level of risk tolerance.
“If there is a demand for tickets, someone is going to take a chance: promoters, businesses, festivals.”
While Live Nation had success with West in Los Angeles, things didn’t go so well when the company booked West for the UK’s Wireless Festival.
They feel West, 48, has apologized enough to warrant a return. In January, ahead of the release of his latest album, Bully, he placed an ad in the Wall Street Journal declaring, “I’m not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love Jews.”
He also said he felt sorry for the black community (who have been fooled in the past by claiming “slavery was a choice” and wearing “White Lives Matter” T-shirts) and their families. Mr West claimed the root of his problems was bipolar disorder, which he claimed was not properly diagnosed until 2023.
“I hope to earn your forgiveness,” West said in the letter. He also met with a New York rabbi last November to make amends with the community.
Then the microphone fell off. Shortly after wireless was announced, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told The Sun last Sunday: “It is deeply concerning that Kanye West has been chosen to appear on Wireless despite his past anti-Semitic comments and praise for Nazism.”
Pepsi withdrew from the event on the same day. Liquor sponsor Diageo, owner of Johnnie Walker and Casamigos, followed closely, followed by Rockstar energy drinks. Paypal has not completely withdrawn from the service, but it has banned the use of its own brand, the BBC reported.
On Tuesday, the Home Office banned the “Heartless” rapper from entering the country, and the Wireless Festival was cancelled. According to DailyMail.co.uk, West was due to receive $15 million for performing on the festival’s three days.
Live Nation and West did not respond to requests for comment from the Post.
But just because stuffy, starched-collared British authorities banned Westerners from entering the country doesn’t mean the comeback is over. As of this writing, he has concerts booked this summer in Italy, Spain, France, Türkiye and the Netherlands.
A source close to West told the Post he was confident these dates would happen, adding: “We don’t think other countries will follow the UK’s lead.
“We’re going to keep doing the big ‘Bully’ business. There’s more music coming. You’re feeling yourself again.”
West now exists in a strange space where he is instantly recognizable and still has an audience, but is considered taboo within the mainstream.
He joins a small but growing category of people like misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate, who has been banned from all major streaming platforms, and Irish political rap group Kneecap, who have been accused of hate speech and banned from touring the United States. Both still have large audiences online.
Seth Schachner, a former Sony Music executive and host of the music business podcast Breaking Down The Biz, said the Page Six West scandal may have helped some viewers as much as it hurt.
“The irony is that he and others can make a living digitally. He hasn’t been pulled from Spotify. The catalog is still there. Unfortunately, you see this kind of attention when the government or someone bans something, but as a result of digital, we’re seeing a lot more of it, the other way around,” Schachner said.
Without a doubt, the person keeping West’s name in the spotlight is his wife, Australian model and artist Bianca Sensori. Her near-naked appearance at events has garnered many headlines and has helped keep both parties relevant.
She has only given one interview in which she spoke about West’s controversy: “You know, he’s going to have to go through his own process of how to fix that, and I’m here to support him and love him and be with him.”
West married Sensori in 2022, shortly after his divorce from Kim Kardashian was finalized in 2014, with whom he has four children: North, 12, Saint, 12, Chicago, 10, Chicago, 7, and Psalm, 6.
Kardashian filed for divorce in 2021, citing Kanye’s “lack of stability” due to his previous meltdowns and mental health battles.
“I hated the feeling of someone talking bad about my child’s grandmother or aunt,” she said on the 2025 podcast “Call Her Daddy,” adding, “I didn’t know…I didn’t know what was going to happen when I woke up. It’s a really disturbing feeling.”
Although West was technically a billionaire at the time of their divorce, Adidas discontinued his shoe line due to West’s anti-Semitic comments at the time. He has also been hired by Gap Clothing, fashion house Balenciaga, Def Jam Records, and more.
West and Kardashian are currently co-parenting their children, and North has appeared with his father on the So Fi show and collaborated on the songs “Talking” and “Earrings on My Hand.”
More than 70,000 fans attended the show, including comedian Dave Chappelle, actress Chloe Bailey and singer Erykah Badu.
“The hip-hop audience never completely gave up on him,” the music manager told Page Six, but added, “His lack of meaningful action to undo the past hurts him.”
Those close to Mr. West disagree.
“He apologized, did what he could and that’s it,” the friend said.
When asked about the UK’s ban on rappers, a friend claimed: “This is just a virtue show by the British government, they haven’t investigated.
“People believe in Leaf, and they believe that Leaf had mental health issues.”
According to the charity Bipolar UK, people with bipolar disorder experience mood swings from depression to mania, have “unhelpful negative thoughts and ruminations” and may have “symptoms of paranoia and delusions”.
Medical experts agree that during a manic episode, people do things they wouldn’t normally do. However, there is little research to suggest that it manifests as racist violence.
The question is whether there is enough of a gray area for the public and businesses to accept Mr. West’s vindication and apology, but at this point it seems like it could go either way.
“A publicity-boosting ad before a concert tour. Years of abuse won’t go away… I don’t care if his famous friends pat him on the back and say, ‘It’s okay.’ But the communities he hurt the most have no reason to believe his apology is genuine,” actor and director David Schwimmer wrote in this week’s X.
Jonah Hill, also Jewish, had a different view. He said he believes West is “probably the greatest artist of all time” and hopes “he can heal from anything that happens, and anyone can heal from something like that.”
