In 2017, the British government named London grime pioneer Wiley a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his services to music. Wiley, the man who essentially invented grime as a teenager, accepted the MBE medal from Prince William at Buckingham Palace. Three years later, Wiley posted a string of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and invective. He was banned from Twitter and Instagram, and his management dropped him. Now, after four years, Wiley has been stripped of his MBE.
When he was being banned for social media, Wiley issued a tepid apology: “I want to apologise for generalising, and I want to apologise for comments that were looked at as anti-Semitic.” He also said that the comments were a result of a dispute between himself and his manager. But then Wiley started another Twitter account and posted more anti-Semitic content. Now, as the BBC reports, the Cabinet Office has confirmed that Wiley has lost his MBE. He joins a short list of former MBEs that includes Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile, and Robert Mugabe.