Pepsi Cancels Sponsorship of London Music Fest Over Booking of Headliner Kanye West
Pepsi has canceled its planned sponsorship of a London music festival over the participation of headliner Kanye West.
The soda giant said Sunday that it was pulling out of the Wireless Festival, which has been co-branded as “Pepsi MAX Presents Wireless” since 2015, without naming the controversial artist who now goes by Ye, several British outlets reported. Ye is scheduled to headline the three-night July festival at Finsbury Park.
Ye’s booking was immediately condemned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“It is deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism,” Starmer told The Sun. “Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears.”
As of Sunday, the Wireless Festival still listed Ye as the headliner, and the Pepsi branding was still prominent on its website. Though Pepsi is the main co-sponsor, others include PayPal, Rockstar Energy, Budweiser and Johnnie Walker.
Ye acknowledged his statements and strange behavior in a January apology in the Wall Street Journal in January, writing “I am not a Nazi or an antisemite” and “I love Jewish people.” He has kicked off a comeback tour in the U.S., having just played two sold-out nights at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
The apology and run of shows came less than a year since he released the song “Heil Hitler,” though he recently re-released it as “Hallelujah,” now with Christian-themed lyrics. He did not acknowledge his past behavior at the SoFi shows, his first major solo performances in more than five years.
Ye’s new album “Bully” was expected to debut Sunday on the Billboard 200 chart an is already available on streaming platforms. Critics note that its lyrics are significantly tamer than his previous efforts and flagged nothing controversial or disturbing.
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