Festival sponsors drop out after Ye joins lineup

 Festival sponsors drop out after Ye joins lineup

Sponsors pull out of Wireless Festival after Kanye added as headliner

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Call these brands a 2010 Kanye West single, because they’ve run away: Paypal, Rockstar Energy Drink, and Budweiser-maker AB-InBev each reportedly said yesterday that they are pulling back from a major UK music festival that recently named Ye as its headliner, becoming the latest brands to abandon ship.

ICYMI: The backlash was swift after London’s Wireless Festival announced last week that Ye, who has a long history of expressing antisemitic views and released a song called “Heil Hitler” less than a year ago, would headline its July event:

  • Pepsi withdrew its sponsorship on Sunday after 10 years as the festival’s main brand partner (the official name is “Pepsi MAX Presents Wireless”).
  • Liquor giant Diageo bailed shortly thereafter.
  • Hours earlier, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Ye’s booking as “deeply concerning.”

Now, AB-InBev and Rockstar are also out, per the Wall Street Journal and Variety, respectively. PayPal, which hosted a ticket pre-sale last week as a Wireless payment partner, said it won’t let the festival use its branding in promotional materials going forward.

UK ministers are also reviewing Ye’s permission to enter the country.

Meanwhile…Ye just made $33 million selling out two shows at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, per Bloomberg, and his new album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. In January, he placed a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal apologizing for his past remarks, which he attributed to bipolar disorder.

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