{"id":7735,"date":"2026-04-06T18:37:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:37:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/04\/50-cent-weighs-in-on-pepsi-pullout-over-kanye-at-wireless-fest\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T18:37:01","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:37:01","slug":"50-cent-weighs-in-on-pepsi-pullout-over-kanye-at-wireless-fest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/04\/50-cent-weighs-in-on-pepsi-pullout-over-kanye-at-wireless-fest\/","title":{"rendered":"50 Cent Weighs In on Pepsi Pullout Over Kanye at Wireless Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shortly after confirming Ye<\/a> as this year\u2019s headliner, Pepsi announced its decision to end its long-standing sponsorship of Wireless Festival. This move drew a swift reaction from 50 Cent. The rapper posted an image to Instagram referencing the brand\u2019s departure after more than a decade tied to the event. In the caption, he wrote, \u201cOh I know he sick,\u201d before adding, \u201cBro he might black out again. LOL.\u201d The comment, brief but pointed, quickly circulated. As a result, debate around the festival intensified.<\/p>\n

Wireless Festival is a staple of the UK\u2019s summer music calendar and has been since 2005. The festival recently revealed that Ye would headline across all three nights. The announcement prompted renewed scrutiny given his past antisemitic remarks. These comments have sparked controversy in recent years. In a statement, Pepsi confirmed its exit, saying, \u201cPepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival.\u201d Diageo followed with a similar move and became the second major corporate partner to step away from the event.<\/p>\n

Political Backlash Grows as Past Controversies Resurface<\/h2>\n

The situation also drew attention from political leaders. Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the booking directly. He stated, \u201cIt is deeply concerning Kanye West has been booked to perform at Wireless despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism.\u201d He continued, \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 His remarks reflected broader concerns. Ultimately, people questioned the cultural implications of the decision, especially considering the impact of Ye.<\/p>\n

The controversy traces back to 2022. In that year, Ye posted a series of antisemitic statements. He later appeared in an interview with Alex Jones in which he expressed admiration for Adolf Hitler. As a result, he issued a public apology in a full-page advertisement published in The Wall Street Journal<\/em> ahead of his album Bully<\/em>. In that statement, he wrote, \u201cOne of the difficult aspects of having bipolar type-1 are the disconnected moments\u2014many of which I still cannot recall\u2014that lead to poor judgment and reckless behavior that oftentimes feels like an out-of-body experience.\u201d He added, \u201cI regret and am deeply mortified by my actions in that state, and am committed to accountability, treatment, and meaningful change. It does not excuse what I did, though. I am not a Nazi or an antisemite. I love Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shortly after confirming Ye as this year\u2019s headliner, Pepsi announced its decision to end its long-standing sponsorship of Wireless Festival.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-7735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7735\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}