South by Southwest (SXSW) announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Army will not be a sponsor of its 2025 festival after several artists and panelists boycotted the 2024 festival over the Army’s sponsorship.
“After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model. As a result, the U.S. military and companies involved in weapons manufacturing will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025,” SXSW said in a statement on its website.
More than 80 artists and panelists have pulled out of the festival, which will be held in Austin, Texas, in March 2024, citing “solidarity with Palestine,” according to the Austin for Palestine Coalition.
“We do not believe the sponsorship decision is intended to prohibit our participation or the participation of other services. Army Futures Command has participated in some form every year since its launch in Austin in 2018,” an Army spokesperson told Fox News in a statement.
X Ambassadors attend the SXSW 2024 Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas on March 15, 2024. (Photo by Diego Donamaria/SXSW Conference & Festival via Getty Images) (Photo by Diego Donamaria/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images)
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The Austin for Palestine Coalition called for protests and a boycott of SXSW in February due to its ties to the US military and arms manufacturers that the group said supply weapons to the Israeli military.
The Department of Defense, Raytheon, the U.S. Army, BAE Systems and L3Harris were all sponsors of SXSW 2024.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in South by Southwest in 2024. U.S. Army Futures Command is headquartered in Austin and we value the opportunities to engage the community, foster discovery and make new connections. The Army will continue to seek out opportunities to meet with technology innovators and leaders, explore new ideas and insights, and build dynamic industry partnerships because tomorrow is worth protecting,” Lt. Col. Jamie Dobson, spokesman for U.S. Army Futures Command, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (Republican) hit back at bands and performers who decided to boycott SXSW, telling them to “never come again.”
A view of 6th Avenue during the 2023 SXSW Conference & Festival on March 10, 2023 in Austin, Texas. (Hutton Spancik/Getty Images for SXSW)
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“Band pulls out of SXSW over US Military sponsorship. Goodbye. Don’t come again. Austin remains HQ for Army Futures Command. San Antonio is a USA Military City. We are proud of our US Military in Texas. If you don’t like it don’t come here,” Gov. Abbott wrote in March.
Bands and artists including Squirrel Flower, Scowl and OK Shalom took to social media to explain their reasons for boycotting the 2024 festival.
“SXSW has a lot of negative impacts on working musicians, but the reason I’m specifically withdrawing is because it serves as a platform for defense contractors, including subsidiaries of Raytheon, and the U.S. Army, which is a major sponsor of the festival.” Squirrel FlowerShe, also known as Ella Williams, wrote on Instagram:
She added, “Genocide profiteers like Raytheon supply weapons to the Israel Defense Forces, which is funded by our tax dollars. War profiteers have no place at music festivals. I refuse to be complicit and will be cancelling my participation.” [sic] My art and my work are protests.”
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“We made this decision in protest of the US military’s sponsorship of SXSW and the involvement of RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace and BAE Systems in the manufacture and supply of weapons to Palestinians,” American punk band Scowl posted.
Fox News’ Liz Frieden and Lindsay Cornick contributed to this report.
