Pepsi, Diageo, Rockstar Energy, and PayPal have all backed out of their sponsorship from this summer’s Wireless Festival after Ye was announced as the event’s headliner.
Now, the promoter behind the festival is speaking out in support of the rapper.
Melvin Benn, managing director of Festival Republic, defended Ye in a statement released Monday, asking critics to “offer some forgiveness and hope.”
“What 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,” Benn said in his statement. “We are not giving him a platform to extol opinion of whatever nature, only to perform the songs.”
Ye is set to headline all three nights of Wireless Festival in London this July. The rapper, who first rose to fame in the early 2000s with albums like The College Dropout and Graduation, has spent the past several years facing backlash over antisemitic remarks and public praise of Adolf Hitler.
Benn said his personal experience with mental illness influenced his view.
“Forgiveness and giving people a second chance are becoming a lost virtue,” he said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently called Ye’s booking “deeply concerning.”
Several Jewish-run organizations have also spoken out against the upcoming performance, putting pressure on the rapper and the festival owner to walk back on their plans.
