London's Wireless music festival in hot water for Kanye West booking as sponsors back out

Multiple major sponsors of the Wireless music festival have pulled support following the announcement of Kanye West as the event’s three-day headliner.

Diageo and joined Pepsi in withdrawing their support from the Wireless Festival, which will take place between July 10th and 12th in Finsbury Park.

This follows the announcement of Kanye West as the headliner for the event, across all three nights. It’s not of course the norm for one act to headline multiple nights, but Tyler the Creator is doing the same this year, with headline slots at All Points East on the 28th and 29th August.

Last year, Drake headlined all three nights of the Wireless Festival too.

At the top of the list of Kanye West’s, who now goes by the name Ye, list of problematic behaviours include making antisemitic statements and glorifying Adolf Hitler in his music.

It’s not clear how much of the funding of Wireless Festival is provided by its sponsors, but it is clear Pepsi is a major one — the festival is described as “Pepsi presents Wireless” on the festival’s own website.

“Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival,” a spokesperson for the brand has said.

Diageo and Pepsi have pulled their support just ahead of the festival’s ticket sale opening. Presale begins on Tuesday April 7th at 12pm, with general sale beginning on Wednesday at 12pm.

At the time of writing, Ye is the only act announced for the festival.

Other key sponsors listed on the Wireless Festival website, include Rockstar Energy Drink, Budweiser, Drip, PayPal, BeatBox and Big Green Coach, which provides coach travel to a whole host of concerts and festivals from cities across the UK.

Pepsi was the only brand listed as a “headline partner” so the biggest hit of damage is already done.

"It is deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism,” said Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the weekend, following the public outcry over West’s festival booking.

The Telegraph reports Labour MPs are “urging” Starmer to block West from entering the country to play the Wireless festival.

Kanye West had his Australian visa revoked in July 2025, effectively barring him from entering the country.

The rapper last played in the UK in 2015, when he headlined the Saturday of the Glastonbury festival.

Ye's new album Bully has just been released, and it currently sits at number three on the UK album charts, behind Raye's The Music May Contain Hope and Olivia Dean's The Art of Loving.

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