Pepsi has reportedly pulled out its sponsorship from Kanye West’s Wireless Music Festival. For those unversed, the 48-year-old rapper is headlining the Wireless Festival, which will take place from July 10 (Friday) to July 12 (Sunday) in Finsbury Park, North London. West will be headlining all three nights and will be performing for a sizable 150,000-person audience. This will mark the rapper’s first performance in the UK since he headlined Glastonbury in 2015.
Pepsi drops sponsorship from festival where Kanye West is headlining
Pepsi will not be sponsoring the Wireless Music Festival, which is to be headlined by Kanye West. The reason is reportedly due to the 48-year-old rapper’s controversial image in the media and his past antisemitic remarks.
A Pepsi spokesperson confirmed the news to USA Today, “Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival.” This comes days after the festival organizers announced that West will be headlining all three days of the music festival.
The “Heartless” rapper is known for his infamous racist and antisemitic comments. He has previously shown love for the Nazi leader and even dedicated a song to him titled “Heil Hitler.” Not only that, West previously sported T-shirts with the Nazi “Swastika” printed on them and even sold them to fans.
In 2022, major brands cut ties with West as a result of his openly expressed antisemitic statements, but that did not stop him. However, earlier this year, the 48-year-old rapper apologized to the Jewish community by publishing a full-page advert in The Wall Street Journal.
Notably, British PM Sir Keir Starmer expressed his displeasure over West headlining the North London music festival. Sir Starmer revealed to The Sun, “It is deeply concerning 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 firmly wherever it appears. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe,” he added.
As per The Sun, the Jewish community in Britain is unhappy with the organisers’ decision to recruit West as the headliner, and there are growing calls to ban him from the country. At the time of writing, festival organizers have not commented on the matter.
Originally reported by Anwaya Mane on Mandatory.
