Pepsi pulls music festival sponsorship amid backlash to Ye performance

Pepsi has pulled out of sponsoring anupcoming music festivalin London amid growing backlash over the involvement ofYe, the controversial rapper formerly known asKanye West.

A Pepsi spokesperson confirmed in a statement provided to USA TODAY on April 5, "Pepsi has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Wireless Festival." The move came days after the announcement that Ye will headline all three days of the festival, which is scheduled to take place this July in London.

The booking sparked swift criticism given the widespread backlash Ye has faced in recent years for his racist and antisemitic comments, including saying he loves Adolf Hitler, identifies as a Nazi and planned to go "death con 3 on" Jewish people. In 2022,major brandscut ties with the rapper over his antisemitic statements. Since then, Ye has continued stirring outrage and in 2025 released a song titled "Heil Hitler."

USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for Ye for comment.

The Wireless Festival will be held at Finsbury Park in London from July 10 to July 12. Festival organizers previously said that Ye's "UK comeback will be an extraordinary chapter in Wireless's story,"per the BBC. The rapper last performed in the U.K. in 2015.

Prior to Pepsi's statement,U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmertold theBritish tabloid The Sunit is "deeply concerning" that Ye has been booked to perform at the festival "despite his previous antisemitic remarks and celebration of Nazism."

Starmer added, "Antisemitism 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."

Ye to headline Wireless Festival:The announcement came after his recent apology for antisemitic remarks

The charity Campaign Against Antisemitism also condemned Ye's planned performance and called on Starmer to prevent the rapper from entering the U.K. in a statement provided to USA TODAY.

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Born Kanye Omari West, Ye transformed himself from a college dropout in Chicago to an undisputable icon of music and fashion. But a string of controversies has the rapper facing a fallout. In October 2022, several companies, including Adidas and Balenciaga fashion house, cut ties with the star after he made antisemitic remarks.

Look back on Ye's life and career, from his marriage and divorce from Kim Kardashian to his polarizing political statements. Here, Ye and Bianca Censori attend the 67th Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Ye gestures upon arriving at Shanghai Pudong International Airport on July 11, 2025.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Ye hit the 2025 Grammys red carpet donning a black shirt and pants, sunglasses and a chain. Meanwhile, wife Bianca Censori wore a black fur coat that she removed to pose in a nearly nude, see-through dress as photographers captured the couple's appearance.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Ye and Bianca Censori attend the Marni fall/winter 2024 fashion show on Feb. 23, 2024, in Milan, Italy.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Ye and Bianca Censori are seen in the stands during the UEFA Champions League last 16 first leg football match Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid at the San Siro stadium in Milan on Feb. 20, 2024.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Charlie Wilson, left, and Ye attend Wilson's Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony on Jan. 29, 2024, in Los Angeles.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Ye attended the premiere for "The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM," a documentary by conservative political commentator Candace Owens, on Oct. 12, 2022.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> during an appearance on the “Drink Champs” podcast a few days after the event found the rapper making controversial statements on the manner of Floyd's death." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Ye and his children Saint West, Chicago West and Psalm West, who he shares with ex Kim Kardashian, attended the Balenciaga womenswear spring/summer 2023 show at Paris Fashion Week on Oct. 2, 2022.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> gave an impassioned speech about Diddy, who he called his "brother."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> were rumored to be romantically linked at the time." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> then-girlfriend Julia Fox, an actress and model, attended the Kenzo Fall/Winter 2022/2023 show during Paris Fashion Week on Jan. 23, 2022." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> temporarily moved into the venue following the event while he finished work on his 10th studio album "Donda," named after his late mother Donda West." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Easter Sunday service during the 2019 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival on April 21, 2019." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> "feel like Superman." Trump called him "a smart cookie."" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />

See Kanye West, Ye, the polarizing rapper, fashion mogul

Born Kanye Omari West, Ye transformed himself from a college dropout in Chicago to an undisputable icon of music and fashion. But a string of controversies has the rapper facing a fallout. In October 2022, several companies, including Adidas and Balenciaga fashion house,cut ties with the starafter he made antisemitic remarks.Look back on Ye's life and career, from his marriage and divorce from Kim Kardashian to his polarizing political statements. Here, Ye and Bianca Censori attend the 67th Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles.

"The Prime Minister is right to be deeply concerned that Wireless wants to headline someone whose anti-Jewish bigotry has gone as far as recording a track titled 'Heil Hitler' less than a year ago," the statement read. "He is not a bystander though. The Government can ban anyone from entering the UK who is not a citizen and whose presence would 'not be conducive to the public good.' Surely this is a clear case. Pepsi has done the right thing by dropping its sponsorship of the festival, but if management are adamant that they want to headline Kanye West, it is only the Government that can stop them."

Ye, who unveiled his latest album "Bully" on March 28,took out a full-page adin the Wall Street Journal in January apologizing for his previous comments. He said he "lost touch with reality" because he suffers from bipolar disorder.

Ye performs first US show in years:What critics and fans are saying

"One of the difficult aspects of having bipolar type-1 are the disconnected moments − many of which I still cannot recall − that lead to poor judgment and reckless behavior that oftentimes feels like an out-of-body experience," he wrote. "I 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."

Ye alsotold Vanity Fairthathe oweda "huge apology once again for everything that I said that hurt the Jewish and Black communities in particular."

At the time, the Anti-Defamation Leaguedescribed Ye's apologyas "long overdue," but said it does not "automatically undo his long history of antisemitism – the antisemitic 'Heil Hitler' song he created, the hundreds of tweets, the swastikas and myriad Holocaust references – and all of the feelings of hurt and betrayal it caused."

On April 1, Yeperformed his first full live showin the United States since 2021, taking the stage at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

Contributing: Anthony Robledo and Anna Kaufman

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Kanye West Wireless Festival loses Pepsi as sponsor amid backlash

byJastin Mags

in

April 05, 2026

Pepsi pulls music festival sponsorship amid backlash to Ye performance

Pepsi has pulled out of sponsoring anupcoming music festivalin London amid growing backlash over the involvement ofYe, t...

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Jefferson Airplane Guitarist Says Jerry Garcia Was Band's ‘Spiritual Advisor,' Praises 'Amazing Human Being' Bob Weir (Exclusive)

Jorma Kaukonen credits Jerry Garcia as Jefferson Airplane's "spiritual advisor," who influenced the band's album Surrealistic Pillow

NEED TO KNOW

• Both Garcia and Bob Weir had a huge impact on Kaukonen and Jefferson Airplane as a whole

• "My past is with me all the time," Kaukonen shares with PEOPLE

Bands often look to one another for inspiration and advice, sometimes even spiritually. Jefferson Airplane guitarist Jorma Kaukonen knows this all too well.

Kaukonen, now 85, talks to PEOPLE about the Grateful Dead's impact on Jefferson Airplane.

In 1967, Jefferson Airplane releasedSurrealistic Pillow,the band's first album with vocalist Grace Slick and drummer Spencer Dryden. The album featured the popular songs "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit." For Kaukonen, the albumpushed them into "uncharted territory"and was a "quantum leap" from their first album.

But, like another band one famously sang, Kaukonen got by "with a little help" from his friends — Jerry Garcia, more specifically.

"We're also fortunate inSurrealistic Pillowthat if you look at the record, I think it lists Jerry Garcia as a spiritual advisor," he explains. "Jerry had played bluegrass bands and jug bands, rock and roll bands for years. His input into arranging and playing rock and roll music was so important at that time."

Another member of the Grateful Dead also had a major impact on the band and Kaukonen himself — Bob Weir.

"Bob is one of these truly, truly amazing human beings and he's left a hell of a legacy behind him," he shares. "I met Bob when he was probably maybe 16. I think Jerry brought him to a gig and that would've been when I was playing acoustic guitar, way before Jefferson Airplane."

Kaukonen goes on to say that he always considered Weir a "biophile, a lover of life."

"He was just always, always reaching for the stars. I was pretty much happy just basically being a folky blues musician in a small town in California," Kaukonen shares. "Bob was always looking ahead, and he's always been an inspirational guy to me, and it was an honor that I could call him a friend. He's sorely missed."

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Weirdied in January 2026from "underlying lung issues" after "beating cancer." He was 78.

One of the things that inspired Kaukonen the most about Weir was "the way that he would go after things that he wanted to go after."

Another major inspiration for Kaukonen was one of Weir's mentors, the Reverend Gary Davis, whom he fondly remembers from "a geeky guitar player story."

"He was a Black gospel singer that lived in New York. I met the Reverend because he was a friend of one of my mentors, but I never 'studied' with him," he shares. "I remember that Bob actually went to Queens, New York, and took lessons from Reverend Davis himself and the version that the Grateful Dead worked up of 'Samson and Delilah' was directly inspired by the way Bob learned."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE'sfree daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

"I'm a finger-style guitar player, and Bob wasn't, but the Reverend used all these really odd chords that were idiosyncratic to his style, and Bob learned all those chords and incorporated them into the Grateful Dead version of 'Sampson and Delilah,'" he adds.

Both looking back and looking forward, Kaukonen shares, "My past is with me all the time."

"I find that I listen to all kinds of music, but I haven't really found myself motivated to really snag guitar techniques from more modern musicians," he admits. "That's not just that I'm an old stick in the mud. It's just that I really love the roots of where I'm coming from. To mix my metaphors, it's a very deep mine and I've hardly gotten to the bottom yet."

Now in his 80s, the guitarist continues to play and released the albumWabash Avenuein 2025. He will tour this year, with a stop in Michigan's Historic Ironwood Theatre with John Hurlbut. Kaukonen will also stop at Newport Folk Festival later in the summer.

Read the original article onPeople

byJastin Mags

in

April 05, 2026

Jefferson Airplane Guitarist Says Jerry Garcia Was Band's ‘Spiritual Advisor,' Praises 'Amazing Human Being' Bob Weir (Exclusive)

Jorma Kaukonen credits Jerry Garcia as Jefferson Airplane's "spiritual advisor," who influenced the band...

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Lisa Kudrow Says Phoebe from “Friends ”‘Wasn’t Stupid’ Despite Everyone Labeling the Character ‘Such a Ditz’

Lisa Kudrow said her Friends character Phoebe Buffay "wasn't stupid" in a recent interview

NEED TO KNOW

• "At first, Phoebe was very, very far from me. It took a lot of work to justify the things she would say and do," the actress said

• Friends aired for 10 seasons on NBC from 1994 to 2004

Lisa Kudrowis setting the record straight on her iconicFriendscharacter.

The actress, 62, said Phoebe Buffay from the hit sitcom "wasn't stupid" while speaking with actressLily Tomlinfor anInterview Magazinearticle published on ​​Monday, March 30.

"At the time, it was like, 'She's such a ditz. How is it that you only play ditzes?' And I thought, Is she a ditz? To me, she wasn't," Kudrow recalled of the public response to her character.

When asked who called Phoebe a ditz, she replied, "Everybody. In 1994, it was like, 'I love her. She's such a ditz.' And it's like, yeah, okay, that was what a ditz was to us. Someone who wasn't toeing the line."

TheComebackstar emphasized, however, that her character "wasn't stupid."

Still, Kudrow said it took some time for her to personally connect with her character, but it eventually happened over the show's lengthy run.

"At first, Phoebe was very, very far from me. It took a lot of work to justify the things she would say and do. Not in an irritating way—it was fun. Over the course of 10 years, a little bit of her came into me. I lightened up a little more and read some books on spirituality and things, just to try to understand her," she said.

The NBC sitcom about six friends living in New York City aired from 1994 to 2004. It also starredJennifer Aniston,Courteney Cox,David Schwimmer,Matt LeBlancand the lateMatthew Perry.

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Phoebe was a musician who juggled a variety of jobs throughout the series. Kudrow won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of the quirky character in 1998.

The actressrevisited her time on the beloved showwhile speaking withToday.comin 2024.

"We loved each other," she said of her costars. "Going to work every day was heaven. It was too good to be true, but it really was."

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Kudrow also said starring on the show and having such early success opened the door for her later works.

"Because I was onFriends, I got to create my own shows that didn't have to be as big asFriends, so I could do something likeThe ComebackorWeb Therapy, and that was really fulfilling," she said at the time.

The Comebackpremieredits third and final seasonon March 22, two decades after its first installment in 2005.

Read the original article onPeople

byJastin Mags

in

April 05, 2026

Lisa Kudrow Says Phoebe from “Friends ”‘Wasn’t Stupid’ Despite Everyone Labeling the Character ‘Such a Ditz’

Lisa Kudrow said her Friends character Phoebe Buffay "wasn't stupid" in a recent interview NEE...

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