Kanye to headline London festival; major sponsors drop support, Starmer raises concerns |
Drinks giants Pepsi and Diageo on Sunday pulled out of sponsoring a music festival in London headlined by US rapper Kanye West, who has a history of antisemitic outbursts.
The disgraced 48-year-old hip-hop star – now known as Ye – is due to play three nights at the Wireless Festival in London in July as part of a European comeback tour.
A spokesperson for Pepsi, the festival’s top sponsor, told AFP on Sunday that the brand “has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival,” without giving a reason.
Diageo, whose labels Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan were slated to be partner brands, also dropped out.
“We have informed the organizers of our concerns and as it stands, Diageo will not sponsor the 2026 Wireless Festival,” a spokesman told AFP.
The festival’s operating company, Live Nation, has not so far responded to a request for comment.
West sold out his first major US performance in nearly five years at a SoFi concert in Southern California last week.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed concern about West’s upcoming appearances in the UK given the rapper’s history of antisemitism.
Starmer told The Sun newspaper it was “deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.”
He added that “antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly.”
The British festival’s organizers announced West’s appearance on social media last month, prompting criticism from Jewish organizations and London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who nonetheless said it was not a matter for municipal involvement.
Campaign Against Antisemitism, a British charity, on Sunday urged Starmer not to be a “bystander” and to ban West from entering the country.
“Surely this is a clear case,” the charity said on X, suggesting West could be banned as a non-citizen whose presence is not “conducive to the public good.”
West’s planned European tour has already provoked controversy. In France, the mayor of Marseille said the rapper was “not welcome” for a concert there in June.
In May 2025, West bought a Super Bowl ad to promote T-shirts with swastikas on them, then released a song titled “Heil Hitler,” to mark the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
The song was banned by major streaming platforms but a group of far-right antisemitic influencers, including Nick Fuentes, played the song earlier this year at a Miami nightclub in a viral incident.
Ye released his latest album, “Bully,” under both the names Ye and Kanye West, at the end of March.
He dominated hip-hop and pop charts in the 2000s and early 2010s, winning 24 Grammy Awards despite public outbursts.
He lost nearly all his major business partnerships and many fans after a string of controversies in the last several years, including antisemitic remarks and social media posts.
Ye has repeatedly alienated the global Jewish community and broad swaths of his fanbase since fall 2022, when he first threatened to go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE.”
He has since expressed regret over his multiple antisemitic rants, which he blamed on his bipolar disorder.
The United Kingdom is seeing soaring antisemitic attacks and incidents, with many in the Jewish community blaming authorities for not taking strong enough action on the matter.
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antisemitism in the UK