Featured Image Credit: Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company
Topics: Kanye West, UK News, Entertainment, Music, London
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Kanye West, UK News, Entertainment, Music, London
Wireless Festival is facing backlash for booking Kanye West as its headliner this summer following his antisemitic remarks.
West, who now professionally goes by Ye, has made several antisemitic comments in recent years and was even sued by a former employee last year about remarks allegedly directed at them and their religion.
The Jewish employee claimed that the rapper called himself a Nazi and compared himself to Adolf Hitler, as well as saying that West called her 'ugly' in a series of 2024 text messages.
West has also sold t-shirts with swastikas online, and even brandished the Nazi sign on the artwork for his 2025 single 'Heil Hilter'.
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He has since issued a lengthly public apology via an ad in the Wall Street Journal published in January.
Part of West's statement read: "I lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things I deeply regret. Some of the people I love the most, I treated the worst. You endured fear, confusion, humiliation, and the exhaustion of trying to have someone who was, at times, unrecognizable. Looking back, I became detached from my true self."
He blamed a lot of his behavior on his bipolar disease, which he was diagnosed with in 2016.
While the 'Heartless' hitmaker has attempted to repent, some people aren't willing to forget the things he has said and done and brands don't want to be associated with the rapper.
In recent days West was announced as the headliner at London's Wireless Festival this summer, and now several brands have withdrawn sponsorship as a result.
Pepsi – who had been the main sponsor of the music event – has cut ties with the festival.
Meanwhile, Diageo, owner of the Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan brands, told the Press Association on Sunday evening (April 5) that it had also withdrawn.
A spokesperson said: "We have informed the organisers of our concerns and as it stands, Diageo will not sponsor the 2026 Wireless Festival."
There has since been reports that Rockstar Energy has withdrawn sponsorship as well, per Sky News.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has joined in on the criticism and said it was 'deeply concerning' that West had been booked for Wireless Festival.
He shared: "It is deeply concerning that 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 clearly and firmly wherever it appears. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe and secure."
Wireless Festival has issued a statement in the wake of the backlash.
Melvin Benn, Managing Director at Festival Republic (which organizes the event), said to LADbible group: "I am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have been all my adult life. I lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970’s that was attacked on October 7th, am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state.
"Having had a person in my life for the last 15 years who suffers from mental illness, I have witnessed many episodes of despicable behaviour that I have had to forgive and move on from. If I wasn’t before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work.
"What Ye has said in the past about Jews and Hitler is as abhorrent to me as it is to the Jewish community, the Prime Minister and others that have commented and - taking him at his word - to Ye now also.
"Ye’s music is played on commercial radio stations in this country. It is available via live streams and downloads in this country without comment or vitriol from anyone and he has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country. He is intended to come in and perform. We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs that are currently played on the radio stations in our country and the streaming platforms in our country and listened to and enjoyed by millions.
"Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world and I would ask people to reflect on their instant comments of disgust at the likelihood of him performing (as was mine) and offer some forgiveness and hope to him as I have decided to do."
If you are the victim of an antisemitic incident or you have information regarding an antisemitic incident that happened to somebody else, contact the Stand With Us Number on 310 836 6140. In an emergency, always call 911.