SXSW cut ties with US Army following boycott
After various artists boycotted the latest SXSW Festival due to it being sponsored by the US Army, the Nashville festival have now revealed plans to cut ties with the controversial sponsor.
This development comes after multiple notable artists pulled out of the festival due to the US Army’s support of Israel amid the conflict in the Middle East. Since the Hamas attacks on October 7th, the ongoing war has left millions of people displaced from their homes across Palestine and killed tens of thousands in Gaza.
Following the fallout, SXSW confirmed it has no plans to continue its relationship with the US Army, “After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model. As a result, the US Army and companies that engage in weapons manufacturing will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025.”
The boycott initially began with the Austin for Palestine coalition, which had previously requested that the festival cease any activity with associations affiliated with RTX and BAE systems.
The first artist to get involved was singer-songwriter Elle Williams, who stated shortly before the festival, “I am pulling out specifically because SXSW is platforming defence contractors, including [RTX] as well as the US army, a main sponsor of the festival.”
Numerous other artists, including Proper, Kneecap, Ama the Band, and Abe Balshon, followed suit, standing in solidarity with Williams. While this has resulted in a severe financial hit for most of the groups on the bill, artists, like singer-songwriter Rachel Chinouriri, stated it was an easy decision to drop out of her performance this year.
Amid the boycott, SXSW previously defended its sponsorship with the US Army, citing that the institution works as a proving ground for the systems that they currently have in place. The Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, also defended their decision to keep the US Army as a sponsor at first, citing the US state’s history surrounding the military and that anyone who didn’t agree should not come back. SXSW has since released a statement disavowing the governor’s comments.
Of course, this is not the only time that festivals started to reconsider their sponsorships this year. Before this year’s Download Festival, multiple artists announced their intent to pull out of the event due to its association with Barclays, who had links to the Israeli army.
SXSW is set to return to Austin in 2025. It will run from March 7th until March 15th.
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