Calls grow to ban Kanye West from UK as Pepsi and Diageo withdraw sponsorship of London's Wireless Festival

The Campaign Against Antisemitism has said there is a “clear case” to ban Kanye West from entering the UK to perform at Wireless Festival.

It comes as Diageo joined Pepsi in withdrawing sponsorship of London’s Wireless Festival in London this summer amid mounting pressure on the event’s organisers over their decision to book the rapper to headline the event over three nights.

The musician, also known as Ye, has drawn widespread criticism in recent years after he began voicing admiration for Adolf Hitler and made a series of antisemitic remarks, for which he issued an apology in January.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hit out at the music festival for allowing Kanye West to headline, saying it was “deeply concerning” that the musician has been booked, as pressure mounted on the festival organisers over their controversial booking of the rapper.

In a post on X, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) said: "The Prime Minister is right to be deeply concerned that Wireless Festival wants to headline someone whose anti-Jewish bigotry has gone as far as recording a track titled 'Heil Hitler' less than a year ago.

"But the Prime Minister is not a bystander.

"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'.

Labour MP Rachael Maskell also said West should be banned from entering the UK over his previous antisemitic comments.

The MP for York Central told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We cannot allow these performers to have a platform, and that's why it's absolutely right that the Prime Minister has said that that festival, the Wireless festival, should cancel that performer.

"But also he should not be allowed to come to our country to perform in the light of the antisemitic comments that he has made and recorded."
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Soft drinks giant Pepsi was the main sponsor of the festival, promoting the event under the branding "Pepsi presents Wireless".

But on Sunday a Pepsi spokesperson confirmed "Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival."
Then on Sunday evening it was joined by Diageo, owner of spirits Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan, with a spokeperson saying: “We have informed the organisers of our concerns and as it stands, Diageo will not sponsor the 2026 Wireless festival.”
While it emerged Tottenham Hotspur turned down a request from the rapper to perform at their stadium stadium due to the club’s historical connection to London’s Jewish community.

A source told the Sun: “Kanye’s team had wanted him to play a run of shows at Tottenham before they considered Wireless.

“As part of his big music comeback, they thought he warranted a headline run of shows and chose the Tottenham stadium as their venue of choice.

“But when they approached Tottenham with their proposal, the club rejected it.

“There was no way they would allow Kanye to perform at the club given its history with the Jewish community.

“They then made the proposal to Wireless, which was accepted.”
London’s Wireless Festival, held in Finsbury Park, is the UK’s largest rap, hip-hop and R&B music festival, attracting around 50,000 per day.

It has booked West at a time of fears of growing antisemitism in the UK and when London’s Jewish community has been on high alert following a major arson attack on four ambulances belonging to the Jewish volunteer organisation Hatzola in Golders Green on March 23.

Last year, Kanye West released a song called Heil Hitler, a few months after advertising a swastika T-shirt for sale on his website.

As first reported by The Sun on Sunday, Sir Keir said: “It is deeply concerning that Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic 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.”
The 48-year-old rapper’s scheduled appearance at Wireless Festival comes amid fears of growing antisemitism in the UK.

In March, four ambulances from a Jewish community-run service were set on fire in north-west London.

Two men and a 17-year-old boy were remanded in custody on Saturday after appearing in court accused of torching the vehicles.

In October last year, two men were killed in an attack on a Manchester synagogue.

The Sun on Sunday also published criticism from a series of Jewish community organisations which called for Wireless Festival to think again about allowing West to headline.

Holocaust Educational Trust boss Karen Pollock told the newspaper the booking was “causing distress to Britain’s Jewish community due to his previous antisemitism and support for Hitler”.

She added: “Wireless should think again about whether they want to provide a platform for this hateful antisemitism.”
Phil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said it was “absolutely the wrong decision” to allow West to play.

The musician apologised in January for his antisemitic remarks in a letter published as a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal.

In his letter, he apologised to Jewish and black people, and said his bipolar disorder led him to fall into “a four-month long, manic episode of psychotic, paranoid and impulsive behaviour that destroyed my life”.

Wireless Festival was contacted for comment.