“Saturday Night Live U.K.” mocked Kanye West after the artist was blocked from traveling to Great Britain.
A promo for the upcoming week’s episode of the new “SNL” spinoff took a quick jab at the performer after it was announced the U.K. government had blocked permission for West to travel following his application for an Electronic Travel Authorisation.
At the beginning of the promo, upcoming host Jack Whitehall is looking at the corkboard and notecards keeping track of who the host and musical guest in the coming week. He sees Kanye listed as both in an upcoming week and quickly pulls them from the board and tosses them aside before moving on to a new gag with some of the cast members.
The Home Office told told the BBC that the decision to refuse permission was made because “his presence would not be conducive to the public good.” Following West’s blocking from entering, the Wireless Festival was canceled. The artist was set to be the show’s headliner.
“The Home Office has withdrawn YE’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom,” a statement from the fest reads. “As a result, Wireless Festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticket holders.”
“As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking YE and no concerns were highlighted at the time,” the statement continued. “Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognize the real and personal impact these issues have had. As YE said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the U.K.”
Outcry grew after West played a pair of sold-out shows at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium to little pushback, but as public pressure mounted, Pepsi pulled out of Wireless, followed by a slew of others, including Diageo, Rockstar and PayPal.
Throughout 2025, West spewed antisemitic hate online and even briefly sold T-shirts with swastikas on them on his website. He was also sued by a former marketing employee for harassment and discrimination over his alleged antisemitic comments in February and dropped the song “Heil Hitler” in May.
He apologized in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in January, saying his public outbursts were due to manic episodes stemming from his bipolar disorder.
