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Pepsi has announced it will no longer be the main sponsor of London’s Wireless Festival this summer following the news that Kanye West is set to headline. The rapper, known as Ye, has faced intense backlash for past antisemitic remarks, despite issuing an apology in January. The decision comes shortly after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described West’s headlining slot as "deeply concerning."
In comments first reported by the Sun on Sunday, Sir Keir said that West had been booked "despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism".
West, 48, was announced earlier this week as the headliner for all three days of the rap and R&B festival in north London in July.
The festival is marketed as Pepsi presents Wireless - the brand was the main sponsor. Drinks giant Diageo has withdrawn its support for the festival "as it stands". Two of its biggest brands, Johnnie Walker whisky and Captain Morgan rum, had been listed on the Wireless website as partners of the festival.
As of Sunday evening, the festival website still showed Pepsi, Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan as partners. However, a section giving partner details appeared to have been taken offline, displaying instead an error message which read: "There's nothing to see here."
Last year West was blocked from entering Australia after releasing a song titled "Heil Hitler", glorifying the Nazi leader. He also declared himself a Nazi earlier in the year, retracting an earlier apology he had issued over antisemitic comments, and sold T-shirts featuring a swastika on his clothing website.
In November 2025, West held a meeting with Rabbi Yoshiyahu Yosef Pinto where he reportedly apologised for his past antisemitic comments. He went on to take out a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal in January, apologising for his antisemitic behaviour.
His actions saw clothing brand Adidas part ways with the rapper, which said at the time it does "not tolerate antisemitism and any other sort of hate speech".
He has not performed in the UK since 2015 when he headlined Glastonbury.
Three songs from his latest album Bully, released in March, are in the UK's top 100 singles chart.
Wireless has described the event, running from 10-12 July, as a "three-night journey through his most iconic records".
