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Kanye West at Glastonbury 2015: Yeezus brands petition against him 'an insult to music fans'

To be fair the petition was set up by a bloke who has never been to the festival...

Jess Denham
Saturday 27 June 2015 17:24 BST
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Kanye West headlines Glastonbury on Saturday 27 June
Kanye West headlines Glastonbury on Saturday 27 June

Remember that petition to ban Kanye West from headlining Glastonbury, set up by a bloke from Norfolk who has never been to the festival?

Well just hours before taking to the Pyramid Stage tonight, the rapper also known as Yeezus has finally denounced efforts to stop his show as "an insult to music fans all over the world" in an interview with Q magazine. The "All Day" songwriter has reportedly denied thinking that race would have sparked the petition.

Almost 135,000 people have signed the change.org page, which called for West to be replaced by a rock band as he is an "insult to music fans all over the world". See what Kanye did there?

Neil Lonsdale from Kings Lynn wrote: "We spend hundreds of pounds to attend glasto, and by doing so, expect a certain level of entertainment.

"Kanye has been very outspoken on his views on music....he should listen to his own advice and pass his headline slot on to someone deserving! Lets prevent this musical injustice now!"

Until now, West has ignored the backlash against his performance but Emily Eavis, who does not normally comment on line-up controversies, "felt compelled to respond" after the “"enormous amount of media coverage from all corners of the globe".

She wrote in a Guardian blog post: "We think the story this year should not be 'Why is Kanye coming?' but 'How amazing is it that Kanye is coming?' One of the world's biggest superstars and a music legend, always interesting, never boring.

"He has agreed to play a festival where headliners get paid a fraction of their normal rate in support of Oxfam, Water Aid and Greenpeace as well as thousands of other worthy causes. We think that's pretty great."

The Glastonbury team are no strangers to controversy over headliners, with Jay Z, Beyoncé and Metallica among the recent performers to divide music fans.

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