PepsiCo Pulls Wireless Festival Sponsorship Over Ye Headline

In July, London will play host to Wireless Festival in Finsbury Park and Kanye West, also known as Ye, was announced as the headliner. 

This move led to PepsioCo pulling its sponsorship from the event, according to The Wall Street Journal. PepsiCo and Wirelsess had a partnership for the better part of a decade. 

Controversy Surrounding Ye's Booking

Ye, a rapper who recently released an album, has been working on his reputation after the past several years in which he's denied the Holocaust, praised Adolf Hitler, and referred to slavery as a "choice." 

Not only has PepsiCo pulled their sponsorship, but UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told The Sun that the booking was "deeply concerning." 

Wirelss Festival is three days long, and Ye is slated to headline all three days. PepsiCo was a prominent sponsor as the event had been marketed as "Pepsi Max Presents Wireless" in promotional materials. 

“Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival,” the company said, per the Journal. 

Ye and Wireless representatives didn't return the Journal's request for comment. 

Ye's Recent Activity and Business Issues and Moves

In January, Ye took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal addressing "to those I hurt" and said he was "deeply mortified" by his actions, citing his bipolare disorder. 

Ye said he had been working through finding a new "baseline" by taking medication, therapy, exercise, and clean living. 

Over the last few years, brands like Adidas and Gap have dropped him, taking away a substantial amount of his billion dollar empire. 

Adidas was left with more than $1 billion in stock of unsold Yeezy sneakers and they've since settled a legal dispute., 

As of now, Ye boasts more than 73 million monthly listeners on Spotify and nearly 20 million followers on Instagram. 

His new album, came out on March 28. He signed a new deal with Gamma, a music company, for mid-to-low seven figures, per the Journal. 

We'll see what happens with his appearance at the festival, if anything.