{"id":385386,"date":"2026-04-06T22:31:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T22:31:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/385386\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T22:31:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T22:31:07","slug":"wireless-festival-promoter-defends-kanye-west-as-sponsors-pull-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/385386\/","title":{"rendered":"Wireless Festival Promoter Defends Kanye West as Sponsors Pull Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA managing director for the organization behind Wireless Festival has come out in support of Ye<\/a>, the artist formerly known as Kanye West<\/a>, asking that people \u201coffer some forgiveness and hope\u201d to the rapper as sponsors have begun dropping out of the event.<\/p>\n

\n\tMelvin Benn, who serves as managing director at Festival Republic, the U.K. promoter behind Wireless, issued a statement to Variety on Monday defending Ye based on his own experiences dealing with people who suffer from mental health issues. \u201cI have witnessed many episodes of despicable behaviour that I have had to forgive and move on from,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe called Ye\u2019s previous declarations about Jews and Hitler \u201cabhorrent,\u201d but that they are \u201cnot giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature\u201d but only to perform songs that are \u201cenjoyed by millions.\u201d \u201cForgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue in this ever-increasing divisive world,\u201d he stated, \u201cand 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYe\u2019s headlining performances across the three-night Wireless Festival<\/a>, set to take place in London in July, have become a lightning rod for controversy over the past week. The festival\u2019s primary sponsor, Pepsi, announced on Sunday that it is withdrawing from its decade-plus co-branding with Wireless, and was followed by Diageo, owner of Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan, pulling out of its sponsorship. Earlier today, Rockstar and Paypal revealed they were also withdrawing sponsorship.<\/p>\n

\n\tPrime Minister Keir Starmer also condemned Ye\u2019s appearance in a statement to the British newspaper the Sun. \u201cIt is deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism,\u201d he said. \u201cAntisemitism in any form is abhorrent and must be confronted firmly wherever it appears. Everyone has a responsibility to ensure Britain is a place where Jewish people feel safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tRead Benn\u2019s full statement below:<\/p>\n

\n\tI am a deeply committed anti-fascist and have been all my adult life. I lived on a kibbutz for many months in the 1970\u2019s that was attacked on October 7th, am pro Jew and the Jewish state, while being equally committed to a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

\n\tHaving 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\u2019t before, I have become a person of forgiveness and hope in all aspects of my life, including work.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat 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 \u2013 taking him at his word \u2013 to Ye now also.<\/p>\n

\n\tYe\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\n\tForgiveness 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A managing director for the organization behind Wireless Festival has come out in support of Ye, the artist…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,26614,278,170948],"class_list":{"0":"post-385386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-kanye-west","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-wireless-festival"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}