Skepta says his sponsorship deal with Puma is coming to an end over ties to Israel: “They know how I feel, I speak my mind”

20 May, 2024

Skepta

Skepta has confirmed that he will be ending his sponsorship deal with Puma over the company’s ties to Israel.

The rapper first became a brand ambassador for Puma in 2022 for a clothing and footwear line. He later partnered with them again for the ‘Skope Forever’ collection earlier this year.

However, Skepta has now confirmed in a post on X/Twitter that his deal with the sports brand will terminate by August.

“They know how I feel, I speak my mind. They’ve announced their sponsorship will end this August already. The clock is ticking,” he wrote.

In another post responding to a fan wishing he’d never signed a sponsorship deal with Puma over their ties to Israel, he added: “Ain’t gonna lie, I’ve realised it’s a lot more than reading the small print before signing contracts, gotta do your due diligence and yes I am forever a student in practice to eventually take the independent route. Love Abid.”

Puma is one of the main companies whose boycott is encouraged by the pro-Palestine BDS movement. Until recently, the company sponsored Israel’s national football team and was the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA) until December 2023.

According to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the IFA operates on illegal Israeli settlements on land stolen from Palestinians.

NME has contacted Puma for comment.

Figures from the music world have also shown solidarity with Palestine in recent months with large campaigns to boycott both SXSW and The Great Escape.

In March, scores of bands pulled out of SXSW over the festival’s ties to the after it was reported that the US Army was a “super sponsor” of the week-long event, as well as a number of major defence contractors.

More recently, over 150 artists arranged a mass boycott of The Great Escape in solidarity with Palestine because it is sponsored by Barclays, who they claim has repeatedly invested in arms companies who supply to Israel. The campaign, spearheaded by Bands Boycott Barclays, also received support from Massive Attack and Brian Eno.

Skepta recently spoke to NME about his recent short film Tribal Mark, which follows Mark (played by Jude Carmichael), a young boy whose well-meaning family uproot him from their home in Nigeria in search of the proverbial ‘better life’ in London.

“It’s like the Black James Bond thing that everyone was trying to do,” said Skepta. “We wanted to make something [where] after I’ve done the movie, I’m like, ‘OK, cool – it’s the franchise now.” At that point, he reasons, an actor such as Damson Idris can adopt those trademark scarifications and have his “Daniel Craig moment for a couple films… Just building that out so we have a hitman spy, so we’re not leaning on James Bond all the time.”

Asked why he’d rather create Tribal Mark than, say, have a Black 007, he said: “’Cause… James Bond is white.

“James Bond is almost the epitome of British gentleman, you know? A lot of white people must look at him and be like, ‘OK, I need my Aston Martin and my watch and I’m gonna be this guy.’ But we don’t have one. Going forward, we’re gonna be very thoughtful-minded about: ‘What car does Mark drive? What suit does he wear? Because this is gonna be our visual representation of what a Black gentleman is.”

 

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