Pepsi and Diageo withdraw sponsorship of Wireless festival after Kanye West invite
The announcement last week that the racist rapper, who has had multiple episodes of declaring support for Nazism, would headline the event has been widely condemned
Pepsi, the lead sponsor of London’s Wireless festival, and Diageo, owner of Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan, have both announced they have withdrawn sponsorship of the event, after widespread backlash to the festival announcing that Kanye West would be headlining three nights this coming summer.
A Pepsi spokesperson told multiple media outlets, including Jewish News, this morning that “Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival.”
The announcement follows an intervention by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who told the Sun on Sunday that “it is deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.
“Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted clearly and firmly wherever it appears. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure.”
West, 48, has had two major and extended episodes in which he has described himself as a Nazi and publicly disparaged Jewish people. During the first, in 2022, he talked about going “Deathcon 3 [sic] on Jewish people”, claimed that he was being targeted by “the Jewish media” said “I am a Nazi”, and “there’s a a lot of things I love about Hitler”. He was ultimately dropped by sports giant Adidas, with whom he had previously enjoyed a successful and highly lucrative partnership, via the “Yeezy” trainer line.
Having apologised to the Jewish community in 2023, in 2025 West publicly revoked that apology, saying, “I’m never apologising for my Jewish comments. I can say whatever the f— I wanna say forever”. He went on to describe himself as “a Nazi” again and in May 2025 released a song called “Heil Hitler”. He purchased a Superbowl ad which directed people to buy merchandise from his website, including clothes featuring a black swastika. As a result, West was dropped by his talent agency and banned from entering Australia.
All major UK Jewish communal organisations had condemned Wireless festival’s announcement. A CST spokesperson described it as “completely unacceptable”, adding that “while he has since apologised, this does not erase the impact of his words or actions and there is little confidence that he will not repeat his appalling views in future.”
The Jewish Leadership Council described the announcement by Wireless as “deeply irresponsible”, pointing to how “the UK Jewish community is facing record levels of antisemitism” and noting that West “has repeatedly used his platform to spread antisemitism and pro-Nazi messaging.” Meanwhile, Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies, publicly called for the Home Secretary to use her powers to bar West from entering the UK.
Pepsi’s decision to withdraw its sponsorship will place increased pressure on the festival itself to explain its reasoning. Wireless has not responded to requests for comment from Jewish News. Haringey Council, which runs Finsbury Park, the festival’s venue, told Jewish News on Thursday that “Festival Republic, who are the licensee responsible for hosting the event, must meet several conditions.
“This includes ensuring performing acts do not offend or denigrate any race or religion and we’ll be seeking assurances from Festival Republic that they’ll be reminding all artists of this condition prior to them performing this summer.”
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