Barclays on Friday suspended its sponsorship of all Live Nation music festivals for 2024 after various artists pulled out in protest of the bank’s ties to defense companies that have ties to Israel.
The cancellations also include Live Nation festivals scheduled to take place across the UK this summer, including Latitude, Download and Isle of Wight.
“The protesters’ aim is to force Barclays to cut off bank lending to defence companies, an area on which we remain committed as they are vital to keeping our country and our allies safe,” a bank spokesman told Reuters.
The suspension comes after several artists, including country singer CMAT, metal band Ithaca and comedian Joan McNally, pulled out of the event.
Last month, Barclays’ annual general meeting was disrupted by activists protesting allegations that the bank was indirectly involved in the violence in Gaza. The bank said the week before that it did not invest its money in companies supplying weapons used by Israel in Gaza.
