Wiley’s MBE is under review after antisemitic rant, Cabinet Office confirms

Calls to revoke rapper’s MBE came amid public backlash to antisemitic tweets

Wiley’s MBE is officially under review following his antisemitic rant on social media last month, confirms the Cabinet Office.

The rapper – real name Richard Cowie – was permanently suspended from Twitter after sharing a series of antisemitic posts in July. In them, he described Jewish people as “cowards and snakes” and made comparisons to the Ku Klux Klan. He also made reference to a number of antisemitic conspiracy theories.

Amid the backlash, there were calls from the public for Wiley to be stripped of his MBE. The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also called on the Cabinet Office to revoke the honour from the musician.

In a letter from the Cabinet Office, it was confirmed that the Honours Committee had launched an investigation into Wiley’s actions.

The letter said that the Honours Forfeiture Committee “is able to consider cases for a variety of reasons,” including “being found guilty of a criminal offence” and “behaviour that is deemed to bring the honours system into disrepute”.

Wiley was appointed an MBE in the 2018 New Years Honours for his services to music.

In a separate Parliamentary petition, the CAA is asking for “racists to be stripped of their honours automatically”. So far the petition has received nearly 1,500 signatures of a 10,000 signature target.

Wiley spoke with Sky News in the wake of his tweets. In the interview, he denied being racist but apologised for “generalising”.

The 41-year-old grime artist also said that he will hand back his MBE. “Take it back. I’ve never had it in my possession except for a picture outside Buckingham Palace,” he claimed.

He continued, “Now who’s the MBE for, really? Don’t think I was sitting there like ‘Where’s my MBE? Where’s my OBE? I need my knighthood. Where’s my Richard Branson? No.”

A spokesperson for the rapper’s former manager John Woolf confirmed that Wiley’s MBE is in Woolf’s possession, waiting to be collected by the rapper.