Ye Wireless gigs "deeply concerning", Starmer says: Pepsi pulls sponsorship

Ye

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has joined the chorus of concern over the forthcoming appearance of famous anti-Semite Kanye West, while beverage giant Pepsi has withdrawn its sponsorship of the Wireless Festival, which the foul-mouth rapper is due to headline, following the booking.

The rapper who has glorified Adolf Hitler and the Nazis on multiple occasions, and blamed his behavior on mental illness caused by an old head injury. West, who now goes by “Ye”, is due to headline all three nights at the Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park, north London, in July, marking his first performances in the UK in over a decade.

In comments first reported by the Sun on Sunday, Starmer said: “It is deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous anti-Semitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.

“Antisemitism 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 and secure.”

Last spring West released a song entitled Heil Hitler which contained an extract of a speech from the Nazi leader. It followed the sale on his website of T-shirts featuring a swastika.

In October 2022, in a post on X he said he was going to go “death con 3 on Jewish people [sic]” and later denied the Holocaust on a far-right talk show, proving he is a disgusting person.

His outbursts led to him being dropped by commercial partners including Adidas. Meanwhile, Pepsi, the main sponsor of Wireless Festival, has confirmed it has withdrawn its support for the event following the booking. Why they originally agreed to sponsor this garbage human being is a mystery.

A Pepsi spokesperson told ITV News on Sunday: “Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival.” I wonder how long they pondered that decision.

In January, West took out a full-page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal to apologize for his behavior, including the anti-Semitic episodes, probably because it was hurting his bottom line.

The advert, which took the form of a letter to “those I have hurt”, attributed his actions to a bipolar disorder, resulting from an injury in a car accident that had only been diagnosed many years later. The way in which a car accident can cause bipolar disorder is rare and needs to include traumatic brain injury.

In early 2025, he fell into “a four-month long manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behavior that destroyed my life,” he said.

In that “fractured state”, he explained, “I 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. It does not excuse what I did though. I am not a Nazi or an anti-Semite. I love Jewish people.”

Really?

The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council have both called for the cancellation of his booking at the Wireless Festival.

BoD president Phil Rosenberg said that given the current high levels of anti-Semitism in the UK, inviting West to perform “seems to be absolutely the wrong decision and many Jewish people will worry that that will just inflame what is already a very febrile situation.”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism commented: “The Government can ban anyone from entering the UK who is not a citizen and whose presence would ‘not be conducive to the public good’. Surely this is a clear case.”

That must have been one heck of a car accident.

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