Ye will perform in Tbilisi on 12 June as part of a Georgian government-funded programme, despite being barred from entering the U.K. and facing mounting concert cancellations across Europe.
He cannot enter the United Kingdom. His European dates are falling like dominoes. And yet, on 12 June, Kanye West - performing under his legal name, Ye - will take the stage at Tbilisi’s Dinamo Arena, backed by the Georgian state budget.
The concert forms part of Starring Georgia, a government-funded cultural programme. Ticket prices have not yet been announced.
The booking comes at a particularly sensitive moment. Britain recently barred Ye from entering the country ahead of his planned headline appearance at London’s Wireless Festival, citing public interest concerns linked to his well-documented history of antisemitic remarks and behaviour.
The festival was subsequently cancelled altogether. Concerts in Poland and Switzerland have since reportedly followed suit.
Georgia, however, appears unwilling to follow that lead.
The decision to spend public funds on one of the world’s most controversial artists has already sparked criticism within Georgia. The country faces significant social pressures - from healthcare demands to support for people displaced by Russia’s occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia - and many critics argue that directing state money towards Ye is difficult to justify.
There is also a political dimension to the controversy. Georgian Dream, the ruling party, has spent years portraying Western pressure as foreign interference. Hosting an artist recently barred by a key Western ally sits awkwardly alongside Georgia’s stated European ambitions — a contradiction critics have been quick to highlight.
Ye’s next scheduled performance before Tbilisi is in New Delhi on 23 May, with a wider European and Turkish tour expected to follow. Whether further cancellations are imminent remains an open question across the continent.
In Tbilisi, for now, the show is still going ahead.
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