Italian authorities have cancelled planned concerts by rapper Kanye West — who now performs under the name Ye — and fellow US artist Travis Scott in Reggio Emilia, a city in the northern Emilia-Romagna region, citing public order and security risks. The prefect of Reggio Emilia, Salvatore Angieri, announced the ban on Friday following concerns raised by the local Jewish community and an assessment of broader safety risks at the RCF Arena, a venue with a capacity of more than 100,000 spectators. The community's leader, Nicoletta Uzzielli, had urged local officials to replace West's show with a performance that would bring "music back to the forefront as a universally unifying force."

Authorities said several factors informed the decision: the proximity of the two events, scheduled for 17 and 18 July on consecutive days, the large crowds expected within 24 hours of each other, concrete indications of planned counter-demonstrations, and the pattern of cancellations West had already faced in other countries. Scott's concert was caught up in the ruling in part because his shows have faced intense scrutiny since ten people died and hundreds were injured in a crowd crush at his Astroworld festival in Houston, Texas, in 2021.

Italy joins a growing list of countries that have blocked or seen cancelled West's performances. He was denied a UK visa earlier this year, which led to the cancellation of his headline slot at London's Wireless Festival. A Marseille concert was postponed in April, and a show in Chorzów, Poland — at the Silesian Stadium — was also cancelled citing legal reasons. Switzerland has likewise refused him entry. West's troubles stem from a sustained series of antisemitic statements, posts on social media threatening Jewish people, a song released in 2025 titled Heil Hitler, and the sale of swastika-branded T-shirts on his website.

In January, West published a full-page apology in the Wall Street Journal, writing "I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people," and attributing his behaviour to a manic episode linked to his bipolar disorder. Despite the apology, the backlash has continued to shadow his attempted return to public life.

Not all planned performances have been halted. West performed in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday, and two concerts scheduled for 6 and 8 June at the GelreDome stadium in Arnhem, a city in the eastern Netherlands, are still set to go ahead. Dutch authorities, including the minister responsible and Arnhem's mayor, said they found no legal grounds to ban the shows, even while expressing strong disapproval of West's past remarks. The organiser confirmed the 6 June show is sold out, and said the events would be conducted with appropriate safeguards, stressing that every concert they stage "must be about music, art and connection."