United Kingdom, April 6 -- The managing director of the parent company of Wireless Festival has defended the decision to book Kanye West.

Melvin Benn spoke out after huge backlash met the news the 48-year-old rapper had been scheduled to perform at this year's Wireless Festival, urging critics to show "forgiveness and hope" after a wave of backlash.

The managing director of Festival Republic, which owns Wireless, said in a statement issued on Monday (06.04.26): "I am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have been all my adult life. I lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970's that was attacked on October 7th, am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state."

He added: "Having had a person in m...