Earl Sweatshirt and political commentators Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker will no longer be appearing at SXSW London this week.
The festival is running in Shoreditch this week (June 1 to 6) and had been due to see Sweatshirt as one of its featured performers, but organisers confirmed earlier today (June 1) that the Chicago rapper was unable to attend.
Writing on Instagram, SXSW London said that Sweatshirt had “met with an accident” that has made him unable to perform. “We’re sad that we won’t be able to welcome him to London this year, and we know that this will be disappointing to fans,” they added. “His wellbeing must come first”.
Sweatshirt was due to play as part of a showcase at Shoreditch Town Hall tomorrow (June 2), with MIKE now set to take his place on the bill.
It has also emerged that Piker, the Turkish-American Twitch streamer and political commentator known online as HasanAbi, and his fellow Young Turks broadcaster Cenk Uygur, will not appear at SXSW London after being prevented from entering the UK.
The UK Home Office revoked both of their Electronic Travel Authorisations (ETA), which allow foreign nationals to travel to Britain without first obtaining a visa. The government said that their presence in the UK “may not be conducive to the public good”.
Piker, who was also due to speak at an event run by Oxford students this week, has angrily criticised SXSW London organisers, saying on X that “they totally didn’t defend me or Cenk at all”, adding: “They’re actual fucking losers and I will never work with them for the rest of my life.” He also encouraged followers who had bought tickets to see him at the festival to “demand a refund”.
sxsw was a minor part of my trip to the uk, they totally didn’t defend me or cenk at all, they’re actual fucking losers and i will never work with them for the rest of my life. if you bought a ticket expecting to see me you should demand a refund.
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) June 1, 2026
The commentator is an outspoken critic of the Israeli government and said during an appearance on Pod Save America that he would “vote for Hamas over Israel every single time”, describing them as “1000 times better” than the Netanyahu government.
Labour MP David Taylor had called for Piker to be prevented from speaking at SXSW London last week, imploring organisers to “act responsibly”, while Green Party leader Zack Polanski has said Piker’s ban is “grim” and a “clear warning” of the “dangerous road” that the UK is going down.
A spokesperson for SXSW London has said: “We are aware that Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker are unable to travel to the UK following a decision by the Home Office. They will therefore not be participating in the SXSW London programme this year. Decisions on entry to the UK are a matter for the Home Office and the individuals concerned. SXSW London’s role is to convene a broad range of diverse voices and perspectives. We remain focused on delivering a programme this week fostering open dialogue and exchange of ideas and featuring more than 800 speakers, artists and screenings.”
Ash Sarkar, the Novara Media journalist that had been due to chair the discussion featuring Piker, initially called on the festival to “facilitate a way for Hasan and Cenk to contribute remotely”, and later pulled out of the event entirely.
“If I were in their shoes, I would hope that any organisation which invited me to speak, and had their programming interfered with by the Home Office, would have had the minimal expected integrity to offer some defence of lawful free expression and condemn government outreach,” she wrote.
I was supposed to chair the @hasanthehun discussion at SXSW this week, who’s been banned from entering the UK by Shabana Mahmood. First of all, @sxsw must facilitate a way for Hasan and Cenk to contribute remotely, as a bare minimum refusal to comply with government censorship.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) June 1, 2026
I pulled out of SXSW London, and I hope other speakers and chairs do too. https://t.co/qonIjztPFu pic.twitter.com/S8vmFKjRS7
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) June 1, 2026
Zarah Sultana, the left-wing MP for Your Party, has written to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to “demand” that she reverse the “indefensible” decision to band Piker and Uygur. “It raises serious questions about freedom of expression, the right to challenge government policy, and the extent to which immigration powers are being weaponised as instruments of political control,” she wrote.
“The question must be asked directly: was this decision taken to suppress criticism of the Israeli government and to silence those challenging both this government’s and the US administration’s role in enabling the ongoing genocide in Gaza?” she added.
The UK government has barred Hasan Piker and Cenk Uygur from entering the country over their criticism of Israel.
Meanwhile, war criminal Isaac Herzog, whose statements were cited in the ICJ genocide case against Israel, was welcomed at Downing Street with open arms.
I’ve… pic.twitter.com/OqWzfuZyqh
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) June 1, 2026
Last year, a number of artists pulled out of SXSW London in protest of appearances from Tony Blair and David Cameron, among others, with some accusing the event of “artwashing” by booking speakers “deeply complicit in the current genocide of Palestinian people”.
A spokesperson told NME at the time that “SXSW London respects everyone’s views and positions and aims to create an open, diverse space for debate and discussion.”
“Across the breadth of the festival, with over 800 speakers, we have a broad range of global leaders spanning the technology and cultural industries, their inclusion does not represent an endorsement of any particular position or viewpoint,” they added.
