Edi Rama, Artist and Albanian Prime Minister, Defends Controversial Kanye West Concert Near Tirana
Albanian Prime Minister and artist Edi Rama defended plans for Kanye West to perform on Saturday at a newly built stadium outside Tirana that cost millions of euros, despite continued criticism from some Jewish groups over West’s past antisemitic statements. Rama wrote on Facebook that critics were spreading “scorpion-tailed lies” and referenced “4 MILLION EURO” spent at the last minute to avoid embarrassing Albania before nearly 25,000 foreigners from 80 countries, including Germans who bought tickets, amid fears of cancellation. Balkan Insight reported that opposition MP Gazment Bardhi called on Rama to cancel the concert, while the article notes West published an apology in a full-page Wall Street Journal ad in January. The controversy comes as Rama, in power since 2013 and represented by Marian Goodman and Société (which began representing him in 2025), faces protests known as the “Flamingo Revolution” tied to a proposed luxury resort involving investor Jared Kushner.
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This story was covered in Restitution Shockwaves and AI’s Hollywood Heist