Pepsi has withdrawn its sponsorship of the Wireless Festival, putting Kanye West in the spotlight, after Sir Keir Starmer joined in the criticism of the event.
The American rapper has previously been condemned for his anti-Semitic comments.
The 48-year-old musician – who has not performed in the UK since headlining Glastonbury in 2015 – is set to top the bill on all three nights of the festival at London’s Finsbury Park in July.
On Sunday, a Pepsi spokesperson said: “Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of the Wireless Festival.”
Sky News has contacted festival organizers for comment.
Since the time they last performed on UK soil, West Anti-Semitic
sir keir said it was “Deeply concerned” that West has been charged “Despite his previous anti-Semitic comments and celebration of Nazism”.
The Prime Minister said, “Anti-Semitism 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.”
West, also known as Ye, has been banned from X on several occasions due to anti-Semitism.
In January, West took out a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal to apologize, headlined: “To the People I’ve Hurt.”
It said, “I am not a Nazi or anti-Semite.” “I like Jewish people.”
West Attributed his past outbursts to his bipolar-1 disorderWriting: “In early 2025, I fell into a four-month manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life.
“I lost touch with reality. Things got worse the longer I ignored the problem. I said and did things that I deeply regret.”
The rapper also apologized to the black community and said he had let it down.
West previously lost his deal with Adidas in 2022 after a post on his social media in which he shared an image of a swastika inside the Star of David.
Adidas, which had worked with the rapper on his Yeezy trainers, later donated more than $150m (£117m) to anti-hate groups.
Read more from Sky News:
UK Army reveals locations through exercise app
Bryan Cranston on his new role
shortly afterwards, He was criticized for a TV advertisement Which directed people to a website selling Swastika T-shirts and released a song called Heil Hitler.
Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, last week called for the government to ban West from entering Britain.
He said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood should “ban them from coming to this country – we have to take anti-Semitism more seriously”.
Sky News understands that the Home Office has not yet received any application for West to enter the UK.
