Sponsors Bolt Wireless Festival After Ye Headline Booking Sparks Backlash, But Promoter Sticks By Him

Days after announcing Ye — formerly Kanye West — as its headliner, London’s Wireless Festival is bleeding sponsors, but its promoter is sticking by the booking decision.

Pepsi, the title sponsor of the Finsbury Park festival scheduled for July 10-12, announced Sunday it “has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival” without elaborating further.

The announcement came after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was “deeply concerned” by Ye’s headline spot due to the rapper’s history of antisemitic comments, for which he apologized earlier this year, pointing to his history of bipolar disorder.

“Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears,” Starmer told The Sun. “Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe.”

Spirits giant Diageo — which had a deal with the festival through its Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan brands — also pulled its sponsorship Sunday, saying it had pulled back from its partnership with the festival “as it stands.”

Rockstar is also reportedly pulling its sponsorship, according to Variety, and the BBC is reporting that PayPal will not allow its branding to be used, though it has not pulled its sponsorship entirely.

Ye, who sold out two nights at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium this month, was denied a visa to perform in Australia, with the government pointing to his song “Heil Hitler” and Ye’s other public comments on Jewish people. Ye has previously used symbolism evocative of the swastika and briefly sold swastika T-shirts on his website. In October 2022, he tweeted he was ready to go “death con [sic] 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE.” In February 2025, he tweeted “I am a Nazi,” “Hitler was sooooo fresh,” “I don’t like or trust any Jewish person,” and “[antisemitism is] just some bullshit Jewish people made up to protect their bullshit.”

Members of the UK House of Commons have asked the government to deny Ye a visa; his performance at Wireless would be his first in the UK since 2015.

In a statement issued Monday, Melvin Benn, managing director of Live Nation subsidiary Festival Republic, Wireless’s promoter, indicated he was sticking by Ye:

I am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have been all my adult life. I lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970’s that was attacked on October 7^th, am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state. 

Having had a person in my life for the last 15 years who suffers from mental illness, I have witnessed many episodes of despicable behaviour that I have had to forgive and move on from. If I wasn’t before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work.

What Ye has said in the past about Jews and Hitler is as abhorrent to me as it is to the Jewish community, the Prime Minister and others that have commented and – taking him at his word – to Ye now also. 

Ye’s music is played on commercial radio stations in this country. It is available via live streams and downloads in this country without comment or vitriol from anyone and he has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country. He is intended to come in and perform. We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions. 

Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world and I would ask people to reflect on their instant comments of disgust at the likelihood of him performing (as was mine) and offer some forgiveness and hope to him as I have decided to do.