SXSW drops U.S. Army as sponsor for 2025 festival after artists boycott 2024 event over Gaza
South by Southwest (SXSW) announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Army would not be sponsoring 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 US Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025," SXSW said in a statement posted to their website.
Over 80 artists and panelists dropped out of the March 2024 festival in Austin, Texas, "in solidarity with Palestine," according to the Austin for Palestine coalition.
"I don’t believe there is an intent to prohibit our participation, or other services, due to the decision regarding sponsorship. Army Futures Command has participated in some capacity every year since it stood up in Austin in 2018," a U.S. Army spokesperson told Fox News in a statement.
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The Austin for Palestine coalition called for a protest and boycott of SXSW in February over its ties to the U.S. military and weapons manufacturing companies that have, according to the group, supplied weapons to the Israeli military.
The Defense Department, Raytheon, U.S. Army, BAE systems and L3Harris were all sponsors of SXSW in 2024.
"We appreciated the opportunity to join South by Southwest in 2024. With U.S. Army Futures Command headquartered in Austin, we value any opportunity to join with our community to ignite discovery and make new connections. The Army will continue to seek opportunities to meet technology innovators and leaders, explore new ideas and insights, and create dynamic industry partnerships because tomorrow is worth protecting," U.S. Army Futures Command Spokesperson Lt. Col. Jamie Dobson told Fox News Digital in a statement.
Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, fired back against the bands and performers who decided to boycott SXSW and told them, "Don’t come back."
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"Bands pull out of SXSW over U.S. Army sponsorship. Bye. Don’t come back. Austin remains the HQ for the Army Futures Command. San Antonio is Military City USA. We are proud of the U.S. military in Texas. If you don’t like it, don’t come here," Abbott wrote in March.
Bands and artists such as Squirrel Flower, Scowl and Okay Shalom took to social media to explain why they were boycotting the 2024 festival.
"There are many ways SXSW is harmful to working musicians, but I am pulling out specifically because of the fact that SXSW is platforming defense contractors including Raytheon subsidiaries as well as the US Army, a main sponsor of the festival," Squirrel Flower, also known as Ella Williams, wrote on Instagram.
She added, "Genocide profiteers like Raytheon supply weapons to the IDF, paid for by our taxes. A music festival should not include war profiteers. I refuse to be complicit in this and withdrawl [sic] my art and labor in protest."
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The American punk band Scowl wrote, "We came to this decision in protest of the U.S. Army’s sponsorship of SXSW. As well as the involvement of RTX (formerly Raytheon), Collins Aerospace, and BAE Systems whom have direct ties to the manufacturing and supplying of weapons used against Palestinians."
Fox News's Liz Friden and Lindsey Kornick contributed to this report.