Sponsors pull out of festival headlined by Ye on the heels of sold-out SoFi Stadium shows
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Major sponsors have pulled out of a music festival in England set to be headlined by Ye.
The artist formerly known as Kanye West, who recently performed a pair of sold-out shows at SoFi Stadium, is scheduled to perform three shows in July at London’s Finsbury Park as part of the annual Wireless Festival. The concerts will follow Ye’s shows last week at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium, where he began an attempted comeback after years of controversy related to his antisemitic comments.
Yet Pepsi said over the weekend that it had decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless, according to CNN, which said the beverage company Diaego had also pulled out.
The rapper played the first of two shows Wednesday night, performing new songs and oldies on a giant dome on the stadium’s floor.
Earlier, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued a statement saying it was “deeply concerning” that Ye had been booked to perform at the festival given his previous “celebration of Nazism.”
In January, the rapper placed a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal apologizing for his behavior, which included a declaration of love for Adolf Hitler; Ye attributed his words and actions to the bipolar disorder he says he developed from injuries he sustained in a 2002 car crash.
Ye released a new album, “Bully,” last month that just debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. At SoFi, he brought out surprise guests including Lauryn Hill, Travis Scott, Don Toliver, CeeLo Green and Ye’s 12-year-old daughter, North West.
