Corporate sponsors like Pepsi, Nissan, Mastercard, and more pull back from NYC Pride

Multiple corporate sponsors have curtailed the financial contributions to NYC Pride by 25 percent, leaving the event with a serious financial deficit just days before the annual event, the New York Times reports.

Kevin Kilbride, spokesperson for Heritage of Pride, the umbrella organization that produces NYC Pride and other LGBTQ+ events, said he has been provided a mixed bag of explanations for the hesitancy by previously reliable sponsors.

Related: 5 companies that scaled back their Pride campaigns in 2024

“The vast majority of what we have heard is that folks are treading carefully from an economic perspective,” Kilbride said, but later added that “some folks have definitely mentioned the fear of potential blowback from the Trump administration if you are a big corporation and you are publicly supporting D.E.I. initiatives.”

Citi, Mastercard, Nissan, PepsiCo, and PricewaterhouseCoopers all drastically reduced their sponsorship of Heritage of Pride this year, the Wall Street Journal first reported last month.

The highest platinum level of sponsorship costs $175,000. Four of last year’s five Platinum sponsors – Garnier, Mastercard, Skyy Vodka, and Target – have pulled out. Only L’Oreal remains as a Platinum sponsor this year. Deutsche Bank has increased its sponsorship to Platinum as well, but the loss of funding has been a hit on the group’s finances, with a shortfall of $350,000 in this year’s budget.

The groups still contribute, albeit privately or at reduced levels. Target, which suffered a right-wing boycott for its inclusion of merchandising affirming LGBTQ+ youth, is still contributing at the same financial level, just without the publicity. Target does not appear as a sponsor of NYC Pride this year.

Fabrice Houdart, executive director of the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors, said companies that say they are not fearful of Trump’s anti-DEI policies or cultural blowback for sponsoring Pride events are being deceptive.

“I find it very difficult to believe this is about the economic context,” Houdard told the Times. “One thing that is striking about the conversations I have had over the past few months is there are a lot of companies saying, ‘I won’t engage on anything LGBT-related because I don’t want to find myself being a target.’”