Kanye West appears at the 67th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 2, 2025. [Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP]
Albania’s prime minister has defended a decision to spend €4 million on a concert by US rapper Kanye West, as he sought to defuse anger over the event that has added heat to public protests and demands for his resignation.
Kanye West, who is also known as YE, has been banned from performing in several European countries this summer following remarks that have included praise of Adolf Hitler and content featuring Nazi imagery.
The concert, scheduled for July 11 just outside Tirana, will take place in a makeshift stadium constructed specifically for the event.
“We allocated €4 million at the last minute to avoid embarrassing Albania in the eyes of nearly 25,000 foreign visitors from 80 countries who had already purchased tickets to see Kanye West, while many others were wary that the concert might be cancelled,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Facebook.
