Growing opposition emerged Sunday against rapper Kanye West’s scheduled headlining performance at a major London music festival, with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer voicing strong criticism of the booking.
Pepsi has already pulled its lead sponsorship from the Wireless Festival scheduled for July 10-12 at Finsbury Park in north London. Advocates are now calling on additional sponsors, including Budweiser and PayPal, to withdraw their support as well.
The beverage company offered no specific explanation for ending its partnership with the event, despite promotional materials advertising the festival as “Pepsi presents Wireless.”
“Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival,” the company stated Sunday.
The controversial artist, who legally changed his name to Ye in 2021, was set to perform for approximately 150,000 festival attendees across three nights.
West has faced widespread condemnation in recent years for making antisemitic statements and expressing praise for Adolf Hitler. In the past year, he released a track titled “Heil Hitler” and advertised Nazi swastika merchandise on his website.
The 48-year-old performer issued an apology in January through a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, attributing his behavior to his bipolar disorder. He described experiencing “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.”
At a sold-out Los Angeles performance Friday at SoFi Stadium – his first major U.S. show in nearly five years – fans seemed willing to overlook his controversial statements and accept his January apology.
However, Prime Minister Starmer expressed serious concerns about the festival booking decision.
“Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted clearly and firmly wherever it appears,” Starmer told The Sun on Sunday newspaper. “Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure.”
The controversy comes amid rising antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom.
On Saturday, authorities ordered two men and a teenage boy to remain in jail on charges related to setting fire to four ambulances operated by a Jewish community organization in northwest London. Additionally, two people were killed in an October attack at a Manchester synagogue.
Phil Rosenberg, who leads the board of deputies of British Jews, called the decision to book West “absolutely the wrong decision.”
Festival organizers did not respond to requests for comment.
