Another commercial partner has distanced itself from Wireless Festival over the booking of Kanye West as a headliner.
Pressure has been mounting over West’s planned headline spot, with calls for organisers to cancel the booking and for the government to ban the rapper from entering the UK.
Wireless organisers announced the US rapper last week as a triple headliner for all three nights of the event in London in July – but were met with strong criticism over his previous antisemitic comments.
Sky News understands Rockstar Energy has withdrawn its sponsorship, after Pepsi and Diageo also pulled out.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it was “deeply concerning” that West had been booked “despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism” – and over the weekend, Pepsi and Diageo withdrew as sponsors of the event.
Now, the Conservative Party has urged the government to refuse West entry to the UK.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp described the musician’s previous comments as “not a one-off lapse, but a pattern of behaviour that has caused real offence and distress to Jewish communities”.
He added: “At a time when antisemitism is rising in the UK, allowing someone with his track record to headline a major public event sends entirely the wrong message.”
‘He shouldn’t be performing’
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, pictured earlier this year, said West should not be performing at the event. Pic: PA
On Monday afternoon, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson described comments made by West in the past as “completely unacceptable and absolutely disgusting”.
Asked if the rapper, also known as Ye, should be blocked from coming to the UK, she said: “I don’t think he should be performing at the music festival, but I can’t comment on specific individual cases that will be considered in line with immigration rules. But there is no place for that kind of hatred, bigotry or antisemitism from him or from anyone else.”
Wireless Festival is yet to comment on the backlash, and West remains listed as headliner for the event.
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As well as Pepsi and Diageo, a drinks company which owns brands including Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan, Sky News understands that PayPal, a payment partner for the festival, will not appear in any future promotional materials.
West, 48, has not performed in the UK since his headline slot at Glastonbury in 2015. Since then, the rapper has drawn criticism for antisemitic posts on social media, a Super Bowl advert directing people to a swastika T-shirt, and a song referencing Hitler.
He has been barred from X over antisemitism on multiple occasions, and also lost a partnership with Adidas after comments he made in 2022.
West’s apology
West performing at Coachella in 2019. Pic: Invision/ AP
In January, the rapper took out a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal to apologise, titled: “To Those I’ve Hurt.”
“I am not a Nazi or an antisemite,” it said. “I love Jewish people.”
He blamed his behaviour on his bipolar-1 disorder, something he said resulted from a car accident 25 years ago.
“I lost touch with reality,” he said. “Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret.”
At the time, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) charity said it was “hard to keep up with Kanye West’s apologies and relapses”.
A spokesperson said: “We hope for his sake – and for Jewish people worldwide who have enough antisemitism to worry about right now – that he will show some real change.”
The CAA is now among those backing a ban on West entering the UK.
The charity added: “The government can ban anyone from entering the UK who is not a citizen and whose presence would ‘not be conducive to the public good’. Surely this is a clear case.”
Jewish community organisations have criticised the festival, with Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, saying bookers had made the “wrong decision”.
Sky News has contacted organisers of Wireless Festival for comment.