This year’s Wireless Festival is quickly unraveling after organizers announced disgraced rapper Kanye West as the headliner, prompting multiple brands to withdraw their sponsorship.
West, 48, has faced significant backlash in recent years for making repeated antisemitic remarks. His appearance at London’s annual rap and hip-hop music festival is expected to serve as a major musical comeback, following the release of his new album Bully.
However, the decision to give the Grammy-winning rapper a platform has drawn widespread condemnation from numerous critics, including the Mayor of London and Jewish leaders, who have found his scheduled appearance “deeply troubling.”
Melvin Benn, Managing Director of Wireless Festival organizer Festival Republic, released a statement, acknowledging West’s past remarks as “abhorrent,” but defended booking him as the headliner.
“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,” said Benn. “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.”
Still, many of the festival’s sponsors have faced calls to sever ties with the 2026 edition. Here is a list of all the brands that have heeded those calls and backed out.
Pepsi
In perhaps the biggest blow for the festival, Pepsi has pulled its sponsorship. The popular soda drink has been the festival’s top sponsor since 2015, with its branding appearing across the Wireless website. The event had even been officially called “Pepsi presents Wireless.”
On Sunday, a Pepsi spokesperson told The Independent: “Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival.”
The decision came after Great British Bake Off star Matt Lucas directly called out the company for supporting the festival. Referencing several of West’s past antisemitic controversies, Lucas wrote on X: “Have you released a song called ‘Heil Hitler’? Have you sold T-shirts with swastikas on them? Have you promised to go ‘death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE’?
“If so, congratulations! You may be eligible to headline @WirelessFest, sponsored by @pepsiuk.”
Diageo
Shortly after Pepsi withdrew its support, Diageo, the owner of alcohol brands Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan, followed suit.
“We have informed the organizers of our concerns and as it stands, Diageo will not sponsor the 2026 Wireless festival,” a company spokesperson told The Associated Press.
Rockstar Energy Drink
In the wake of Pepsi and Diageo’s withdrawn support, Rockstar Energy Drink has also pulled its sponsorship, The Independent has learned. Both Rockstar Energy and Pepsi are under the same parent company, PepsiCo.
PayPal
Meanwhile, online payment system PayPal will no longer allow its branding to be used on promotional material for the festival, the BBC reported.
PayPal is the festival’s main payment partner, selling pre-sale tickets last week for the three-day festival. Another round of pre-sale is still scheduled to begin Tuesday on the platform, followed by general tickets Wednesday.
Budweiser and BeatBox
Anheuser-Busch InBev, the owner of the major beer brand Budweiser and alcohol brand BeatBox, has become the latest sponsor to drop its support from the music festival.
“We have decided to withdraw our sponsorship of this year’s Wireless Festival,” an AB InBev spokesperson said in a statement shared with The Independent.
Other sponsors listed on Wireless’s website include water brand Drip, and U.K. bus company Big Green Coach. The Independent has contacted representatives for each, as well as PayPal, for comment.
West is scheduled to perform all three days of the festival, taking place July 10 to 12 in Finsbury Park. He is currently on a comeback tour and performed in Los Angeles last week.
It comes on the heels of the rapper taking out an open letter in The Wall Street Journal apologizing for his antisemitism and blaming his outbursts on the side effects of a brain injury, as well as his bipolar disorder.
He wrote in January that he “lost touch with reality” during the worst of his manic episodes and “gravitated toward the most destructive symbol I could find, the swastika, and even sold T-shirts bearing it.”
“I regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change,” West added. “It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.”
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