Pepsi withdraws as UK festival sponsor after Kanye West backlash

Pepsi has announced it is withdrawing as main sponsor of the Wireless Festival in London this summer after news that Kanye West is to headline the three-day event.

The US rapper, now known as Ye, has drawn widespread criticism for antisemitic comments he made in recent years and for which he issued an apology in January.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said earlier that it was "deeply concerning" West was set to headline Wireless.

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".

"Antisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears," the prime minister said.

"Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe. "

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.

Drinks giant Diageo has withdrawn its support for the festival "as it stands".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.

"We have informed the organisers of our concerns and as it stands, Diageo will not sponsor the 2026 Wireless festival," a spokesperson for the company said.

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. "

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said on Thursday that the government should ban West from entering the UK, arguing "we need to get tougher on antisemitism" and describing West's planned appearance as "extremely serious".

The Home Office has not yet received an application for West to enter the UK, BBC News understands.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told LBC: "We are seeing a huge increase in antisemitism all across the world and we need to do everything we can in order to stop the rise in hatred of Jewish people.

"That does mean not platforming people who make antisemitic statements or who put out anything that will incite violence and hatred towards Jews. "

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 in the Wall Street Journal in January, apologising for his antisemitic behaviour. "I am not a Nazi or an antisemite," he wrote. He said bipolar disorder meant when "you're manic, you don't think you're sick" and that he had "lost touch with reality". "I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state," he added.

It came after he posted a series of offensive tweets, including an image appearing to show a symbol combining a swastika and the Star of David and saying he would go "death con 3 On Jewish people".

In the same year, he drew criticism after wearing a "white lives matter" T-shirt during Paris fashion week. 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"