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Summary for: Why did Prague say yes to Kanye West? Controversial rapper set to play CzechiaOn July 25, Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who has in the past made explicitly antisemitic statements, praised Adolf Hitler in a recorded interview, gave what was widely described as a Nazi salute at a campaign event, and promoted merchandise bearing swastikas is scheduled to perform at the Chuchle Racecourse in Prague, before an anticipated crowd of 50,000.
While France and Poland said no, Australia denied his visa, and the United Kingdom barred him from entering the country entirely, the performer appears to have found a last resort in Prague.
When the Slovak Rubicon Festival announced Ye as its headliner last year, it sparked a wave of anger, although none of the concerts ultimately took place.
Last year, information also surfaced about a possible concert in Prague, which activists and some Prague city councillors criticised. This week, that possibility became a confirmed booking.
The concert was confirmed by racecourse director Zuzana Rambová, who told the Czech Press Agency (ČTK) the venue had signed a contract with HUGO Productions, the same company that organised Rubicon. According to Page Not Found, the concert does not appear in the official program.
“We are not the ones who should evaluate whether the artist performs or not,” Rambová told Page Not Found, adding: “We are certainly not in the era of socialism, where we somehow persecute artists.”
The news comes amid a wider debate in Czech public life
This week, Marek Denemark, writing in Hospodářské noviny, argued that the Czech Republic is at a turning point. His subject was not Ye. It was Filip Turek, the Motorists party minister, who recently described civil servants and journalists as “parasites” to be “deratised.”
Denemark noted that deratisation, the extermination of rats, was a term used in Nazi propaganda to dehumanise Jews, alongside “delousing” and “disinfection.”
The logic, he wrote, was consistent: reduce a human being to a pest, and their removal becomes a hygiene measure rather than a moral one.
“Having left-wing, right-wing, or no opinion at all is neither a disease nor a character flaw,” Denemark wrote. “However, the desire to ‘deratise’ anyone is a serious character flaw.”
Unions have since criticised Turek’s remarks, warning that terms such as “parasites” and “vermin” echo dehumanising language associated with Nazi and fascist rhetoric. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has also described the remarks as unacceptable.
Turek’s past carries an uncomfortable echo of the performer headed to Chuchle this July. Like Ye, he has made antisemitic statements, used Nazi symbols, and been accused of downplaying the Holocaust.
Yesterday it was announced that Kanye West, the American artist now known as Ye, will perform in Prague. He has previously been banned from several countries over antisemitic remarks, for which he has since apologized, citing mental health issues. Ye or ne: Do you think Prague should allow him to perform?
The language Denemark refers to has historical precedent in the region itself. Around 80,000 Bohemian and Moravian Jews were killed during the Holocaust, roughly 80 percent of the pre-war Jewish community. Terezín is about an hour from the city.
Like Ye, Turek apologised, but his use in office of language that conjures that fraught history raises questions about the weight of those earlier apologies.
It is a question with no easy answer in a country shaped by historical memory and a past defined by censorship.
'Prague is no place for Kanye West'
In response to the concert announcement, some politicians have taken a more hardline position. Prague city councillors from the Pirate Party were among the first to comment.
“Prague has no place for a Kanye West concert. Period,” said Deputy Mayor Jaromír Beránek. “We must not allow culture to be exploited to promote hateful ideologies.”
Pirate councillor Adam Zábranský was more direct: “It is completely unacceptable for someone who spreads hatred, gives the Nazi salute, sings about Adolf Hitler, and sells T-shirts with swastikas to perform here.”
The city’s culture councillor, Tomáš Slabihoudek of TOP 09, said Prague would not provide a platform for artists associated with hateful statements but acknowledged that the racecourse at Chuchle is not city-owned. The contract is private.
Rambová, for her part, said the decision ultimately belongs to the audience, who “will buy a ticket or not.” She added that Ye has apologised sufficiently and does not see a problem with the Prague concert.
As the Czech capital prepares to host a performer many countries have chosen not to, and its politicians debate the return of language from a darker historical period, one detail is already settled: the horses will be moved to safety.
The race track confirmed they will be relocated for the event, an arrangement approved by the State Veterinary Administration.
