According to the Wireless Festival Director of Promotions, Pepsi signed off to approve Kanye West, now known as Ye, to headline the event before pulling its sponsorship support.
RELATED: UK’s Wireless Festival Books Kanye West As Headliner And Pepsi Officially Withdraws Sponsorship, Ending Decade-Long Partnership
As we previously shared, on March 31, London’s Wireless Festival announced Ye would be headlining all three nights of the festival: July 10, 11, and 12.
Following the announcement, Ye and Wireless Festival organizers faced severe backlash and pressure for him to be pulled from the event. The criticism arrived two months after Ye issues a formal apology to the Jewish community.
Before this, Ye was under fire for his previous antisemitic comments and “heiling (hailing)” of Adolf Hitler. In late January, Ye blamed his wild episodes and hate speech on his health issues. Despite his apologetic statements, the damage was done and people still called for him to be “cancelled.”
On Sunday (April 5), ITV News announced Pepsi shared it was pulling its sponsorship from the Wireless Festival. Several other companies sponsoring the event also began pulling out. These included PayPal, Rockstar Energy, Anheuser-Busch, and Diageo (Casamigos, Don Julio, Ciroc, Smirnoff, Crown Royal, Baileys, Captain Morgan, etc.)
As sponsors began pulling out, Ye issued a statement, opening the door to sit with Jewish leaders in the United Kingdom. He wrote:
“To Those I’ve Hurt: I’ve been following the conversation around Wireless and want to address it directly. My only goal is to come to London and present a show of change, bringing unity, peace, and love through my music. I would be grateful for the opportunity to meet with members of the Jewish community in the UK in person, to listen. I know words aren’t enough – I’ll have to show change through my actions. If you’re open, I’m here. With Love, Ye, Formerly known as Kanye West.”
Obliging to Ye’s olive branch, the Board of British Jews agreed to sit down with him. However, only if he didn’t perform at the Wireless Festival this year. Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, wrote:
“It has been less than a year since Kanye West released a song entitled Heil Hitler, the culmination of three years of appalling antisemitism. He also made a number of deeply offensive comments about the Black community, saying that the 400-year experience of slavery was ‘like a choice.’ Even while claiming remorse today, his latest album includes a track first released last year with the abhorrent title Gas Chamber. The Jewish community will want to see a genuine remorse and change before believing that the appropriate place to test this sincerity is on the main stage at the Wireless Festival. As such, we are willing to meet Kanye West as part of his journey of healing, but only after he agrees not to play the Wireless Festival this year.”
RELATED: UK Politician Calls For Kanye West To Be Banned Ahead Of Wireless Festival Drama
Meanwhile, Melvin Benn — the Managing Director of Festival Republic, the promotions company behind Wireless Festival — released a statement defending Ye.
“I am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have been all my adult life. I lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970’s that was attacked on October 7th, am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state.
Having had a person in my life for the last 15 years who suffers from mental illness, I have witnessed many episodes of despicable behaviour that I have had to forgive and move on from. If I wasn’t before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work. What Ye has said in the past about Jews and Hitler is as abhorrent to me as it is to the Jewish community, the Prime Minister and others that have commented and – taking him at his word – to Ye now also.
Ye’s music is played on commercial radio stations in this country. It is available via live streams and downloads in this country without comment or vitriol from anyone and he has a legal right to come into the country and to perform in this country. He is intended to come in and perform. 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.
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.”
Responding to Benn’s statement, Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, wrote:
“After a week of Wireless Festival avoiding any media, Melvin Benn’s statement will not reassure many within the Jewish or other communities against whom Kanye West’s invective was directed over a much longer period than his more recent apology. The two key facts remain that Kanye West proclaimed himself a Nazi, and that Wireless stands to benefit financially from his performance. Indeed, we note that concern was Mr Benn’s initial reaction to the idea of inviting Kanye West. It remains ours. It is time for Wireless to do the decent thing and rescind an invitation they never should have offered. Kanye West may well be on the path to health and healing. We sincerely hope that he is. But the space to test this is not over three days on the Wireless main stage.”
RELATED: Kanye West Denies His Apology To The Black And Jewish Communities Was A PR Stunt — Says He’s Truly Felt “Remorseful”
Wireless Festival Organizers Cancel Event After UK Government Blocks Entry For Kanye West
Despite Kanye West offering to speak with Jewish leaders in the UK, and even Wireless Festival’s director of promotion defending Ye, the British government blocked his entry into the country. The move pushed festival organizers into a corner, resulting in them canceling the entire event. The festival wrote:
“As a result of the Home Office banning YE from entering the United Kingdom, Wireless Festival has been forced to cancel. All ticket holders will receive an automatic full refund.”
Additionally, Festival Republic added:
“The Home Office has withdrawn YE’s ETA, denying him entry into the United Kingdom. As a result, Wireless Festival is cancelled and refunds will be issued to all ticket holders. As with every Wireless Festival, multiple stakeholders were consulted in advance of booking YE and no concerns were highlighted at the time. Antisemitism in all its forms is abhorrent, and we recognise the real and personal impact these issues have had. As YE said today, he acknowledges that words alone are not enough, and in spite of this still hopes to be given the opportunity to begin a conversation with the Jewish community in the UK.”
As the festival cancelled, Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, wrote:
“We welcome the government listening to the concerns of Jews in the UK and preventing Kanye West from entering the country. It is deeply regrettable that Wireless Festival invited him in the first place and then doubled down when the Jewish community and our allies objected. Wireless has now been cancelled but it should never have reached this point. The situation could and should have been resolved much earlier.
We hope that lessons are learned across the industry. Music festivals should be places where all communities feel welcome, not venues that platform individuals with records of profiteering from antisemitism, racism, and other repulsive views.
We are immensely grateful for the support of those across the political spectrum and from other minority and faith communities. It should not be for the Jewish community alone to advocate for our safety; it is incumbent on the entire arts and culture sector, and civil society as a whole, to recognise the scourge of antisemitism and heed the concerns of Jews when problematic acts are booked.”
Elsewhere, Melvin Benn — the Managing Director of Festival Republic, the promotions company behind Wireless Festival — went on a BBC Radio program and continued to defend Ye. Benn also alleged Pepsi initially approved Ye headlining the 3-day festival.
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