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SXSW Drops U.S. Army & Weapons Manufacturer Sponsorships Following Boycotts
SXSW has ended U.S. Army and weapons manufacturer sponsorships, announcing that neither will sponsor the 2025 event.
The development comes after more than 80 artists and panelists pulled out of the annual music and tech event in Austin, Texas this past March due to sponsorships by the U.S. Army and the North Carolina-based weapons manufacturer Collins Aerospace. The boycotting artists included Irish band Kneecap, who wrote on X that pulling out of the event was “done in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to highlight the unacceptable deep links the festival has to weapons companies and the U.S. military who at this very moment are enabling a genocide and famine against a trapped population.” Today’s news is an about-face for SXSW, which initially defended the sponsorships, releasing a statement during the March event that said organizers “fully respect the decision these artists made to exercise their right to free speech.
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