Austin music, film and innovation festival South by Southwest (SXSW) announced it would stop taking sponsorship money from the U.S. Army after pro-Palestinian protests.
“After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model,” said SXSW in a statement. “As a result, the U.S. Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025.”
According to Variety, this would exclude 2024 sponsor Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of RTX, formerly Raytheon.
Last year, dozens of artists and speakers canceled their appearances at the festival in protest of the Army’s assistance to Israel in its war with Hamas.
“The defense industry has historically been a proving ground for many of the systems we rely on today,” SXSW explained at the time. “These institutions are often leaders in emerging technologies, and we believe it’s better to understand how their approach will impact our lives.”
The festival also added that it “welcomes diverse viewpoints” after Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas would not miss those artists and speakers who withdrew from the festival.
It is still unclear if the Army or weapon manufacturers will make appearances at the festival outside of their sponsor roles.
“Thanks for the support and solidarity re dropping out of SXSW. There’s always a right thing to do and it’s almost never as complicated as the establishment wants you to believe, and sometimes it costs you a dream, but a dream is a dream and not a life,” the artist Okay Shalom wrote on an instagram post at the time. “Palestinians deserve to dream. They deserve to live.”
