Glastonbury Competition has issued an announcement saying that one of many performing acts “crossed a line” throughout their set by main anti-IDF chants.
Punk duo Bob Vylan appeared on Saturday (June 28) earlier than Kneecap on the West Holts stage. Throughout their set, they instigated chants of “Free Palestine” and “Demise to the IDF,” in reference to the Israel Protection Forces, and displayed messages criticising the BBC, the pageant’s official media companion.
Within the week main as much as the pageant, campaigners had called for Kneecap’s set to be canceled, owing to the phobia offense MC Mo Chara was not too long ago charged with. Quite a lot of acts threw their weight behind the group main up the pageant, together with Fontaines D.C. and Large Assault.
Kneecap’s set was not televised on the iPlayer stream, however Bob Vylan’s efficiency was broadcast stay. The BBC studies that Somerset and Avon Police are assessing the chants by Vylan. A BBC spokesperson advised The Independent that “a number of the feedback made throughout Bob Vylan’s set had been deeply offensive. Throughout this stay stream on iPlayer, which mirrored what was taking place on stage, a warning was issued on display in regards to the very sturdy and discriminatory language. We’ve no plans to make the efficiency accessible on demand.”
The pageant has additionally shared an official response to the chants led by Vylan, saying it’s “appalled” by his feedback.
“Glastonbury Competition was created in 1970 as a spot for individuals to return collectively and rejoice in music, the humanities and the very best of human endeavour. As a pageant, we stand in opposition to all types of warfare and terrorism. We’ll all the time consider in – and actively marketing campaign for – hope, unity, peace and love,” the assertion learn.
“With nearly 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there’ll inevitably be artists and audio system showing on our phases whose views we don’t share, and a performer’s presence right here ought to by no means be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs.
“Nonetheless, we’re appalled by the statements comprised of the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday. Their chants very a lot crossed a line and we’re urgently reminding everybody concerned within the manufacturing of the Competition that there is no such thing as a place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”
Wes Streeting, the federal government’s well being secretary, mentioned that the “BBC and Glastonbury have gotten inquiries to reply about how we noticed such a spectacle on our screens,” he advised Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky Information. “However I additionally suppose it’s a fairly shameless publicity stunt, which I don’t actually need to give an excessive amount of indulgence to for that cause.”
Throughout Kneecap’s set, the trio led a “F— Keir Starmer chant,” after the U.Okay. prime minister mentioned it was “not acceptable” to be enjoying the pageant amidst Mo Chara’s ongoing terror case. Learn the total report from the present here. The pageant concludes Sunday night (June 29) with a headline set from Olivia Rodrigo.