Drinks firms pull Wireless Festival sponsorship over Kanye West booking
Diageo and AB InBev have withdrawn their sponsorship of the 2026 Wireless Festival following the announcement that Kanye West has been booked to headline the event in July.
On 30 March, the Gold Digger rapper, who goes by the artist name Ye, was announced as the headline booking for all three days of the festival, which is scheduled to take place in Finsbury Park, north London, from 10-12 July.
Last year, West released a song called Heil Hitler and sold swastika T-shirts. He also posted antisemitic comments on social media. He later apologised and blamed his bipolar disorder’s episodes of manic behaviour.
Following the headline announcement, brands began withdrawing their sponsorships of this year’s Wireless Festival, and critics have called on the organisers to cancel his appearance and for his UK visa to be denied.
The UK prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was among those to condemn the move, labelling the booking as “deeply concerning”.
Diageo brands Captain Morgan and Johnnie Walker had been listed as partners, but the UK-headquartered firm has now withdrawn its backing.
In a statement, a spokesperson said: “We have informed the organisers of our concerns and as it stands, Diageo will not sponsor the 2026 Wireless festival.”
During an explosive social media rant defending Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in early February 2025, West published a post on X that said: “Fuck Diageo”, after the firm cut ties with the disgraced rap mogul.
Other drink brands have also removed their backing, with lead event sponsor Pepsi pulling its sponsorship. The festival was previously marketed as ‘Pepsi presents Wireless’, but Pepsi’s branding has now been removed from the Wireless Festival website.
The brand’s PepsiCo stablemate, Rockstar Energy Drink, has also axed its sponsorship.
Anheuser-Busch InBev, owner of ready-to-drink brand BeatBox, has confirmed it has ceased its support of the music festival.
Despite this exodus of brand sponsorship, the managing director of Wireless Festival, Melvin Benn, has defended the decision to choose West as a headliner, encouraging people to offer the rapper ‘forgiveness’.
The Spirits Business has reached out to Festival Republic, the organisers of Wireless Festival, for comment.
Wireless is one of the UK’s biggest music festivals, attracting up to 150,000 attendees each year.
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