Police examining Glastonbury performances labelled ‘hateful' and ‘grotesque'

South Wales Guardian

9 hours ago

Rapper Bobby Vylan, of rap punk duo Bob Vylan, on Saturday led crowds on the festival's West Holts Stage in chants of: 'Free, free Palestine' and: 'Death, death to the IDF', before a member of Irish rap trio Kneecap suggested fans 'start a riot' outside his bandmate's upcoming court appearance.
In a post on social media, Avon and Somerset Police said: 'We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon.
'Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.'
Reacting on social media, the Israeli Embassy said it was 'deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival'.
A statement on X said: 'Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy. But when speech crosses into incitement, hatred, and advocacy of ethnic cleansing, it must be called out—especially when amplified by public figures on prominent platforms.
'Chants such as 'Death to the IDF,' and 'From the river to the sea' are slogans that advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel and implicitly call for the elimination of Jewish self-determination. When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festivalgoers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence.
'We call on Glastonbury Festival organisers, artists, and public leaders in the UK to denounce this rhetoric and reject of all forms of hatred.'
This is grotesque. Glorifying violence against Jews isn't edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked.
The cultural establishment needs to wake up to the fact this isn't protest, it's incitement. (1/2) https://t.co/nccTBHOxfP
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) June 28, 2025
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes 'grotesque', writing on X: 'Glorifying violence against Jews isn't edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked.
'The cultural establishment needs to wake up to the fact this isn't protest, it's incitement.
'Less than 2 years ago, hundreds were raped and murdered at a music festival. It's not just the act but the gormless people clapping along and cheering. People with no idea what real terror is.
'They don't understand the evil ideology they're amplifying – and they don't care.'
A BBC spokesperson said: 'Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan's set were deeply offensive. During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.'
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to the BBC director general about Bob Vylan's performance, a Government spokesperson said.
They added: 'We strongly condemn the threatening comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.
'The Culture Secretary has spoken to the BBC director general to seek an urgent explanation about what due diligence it carried out ahead of the Bob Vylan performance, and welcomes the decision not to re-broadcast it on BBC iPlayer.'
Kneecap, who hail from Belfast, have been in the headlines after member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence.
In reference to his bandmate's upcoming court date, Naoise O Caireallain, who performs under the name Moglai Bap, said they would 'start a riot outside the courts', before clarifying: 'No riots just love and support, and support for Palestine.'
In the run-up to the festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, several politicians called for the group to be removed from the line-up and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said their performance would not be 'appropriate'.
During the performance, Caireallain said: 'The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn't want us to play, so f*** Keir Starmer.'
He also said a 'big thank you to the Eavis family' and said 'they stood strong' amid calls for the organisers to drop them from the line-up.
O hAnnaidh, 27, wore a keffiyeh during the set, while member JJ O Dochartaigh, who performs under the name DJ Provai, wore his signature tri-coloured balaclava as well as a T-shirt that said: 'We are all Palestine Action', in reference to the soon-to-be banned campaign group.
News broadcasts criticising the hip hop trio played from the sound system before they walked onto the stage were booed by the Glastonbury Festival audience.
The trio opened with the song Better Way To Live from their 2024 album Fine Art and also performed tracks including Get Your Brits Out and Hood.
Access to the area around the West Holts Stage was closed around 45 minutes before their performance after groups of fans arrived to form a sea of Irish and Palestinian flags.
Earlier on Saturday, the BBC confirmed they would not be live-streaming the set but said the performance is likely to be made available on-demand later.
O hAnnaidh was charged with allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah, while saying 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' at a gig in November last year.
On June 18, the rapper was cheered by hundreds of supporters as he arrived with bandmates O Caireallain and O Dochartaigh at Westminster Magistrates' Court in Free Mo Chara T-shirts.
He was released on unconditional bail until the next hearing at the same court on August 20.
Saturday night's Pyramid Stage headliner, Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts, opened with the song Sugar Mountain, with Young saying 'thank you folks' to the crowd as the song ended.
The set list, drawing heavily from live album Live Rust, included songs Be The Rain, When You Dance I Can Really Love, Cinnamon Girl and Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black), with lyrics that reference Johnny Rotten, the stage name of Sex Pistols's John Lydon.
Charli XCX's performance on the Other Stage saw US singer Gracie Abrams perform the viral Apple dance.
As the song began, the British pop star said: 'Who the f*** is gonna be Apple girl, Glastonbury?' while holding what appeared to be a glass of wine.
The 32-year-old played her Partygirl set at Glastonbury Festival last year, but this time the singer performed on a much bigger stage amid a year that has seen her pick up a slew of awards.
Elsewhere at the festival, Haim performed as the surprise act on the Park Stage at 7.30pm, while on the Pyramid Stage, Pulp were revealed to be Patchwork with the Sheffield-formed Britpop band paying homage to their breakthrough 1995 stand-in headline set during the performance.
Performing in the coveted Sunday legends slot this year is Sir Rod Stewart, who previously said he will be joined by his former Faces band member Ronnie Wood, as well as other guests.
Sir Rod's performance will come after he postponed a string of concerts in the US, due to take place this month, while he recovered from flu.
US singer Olivia Rodrigo takes the final Sunday slot after opening the British Summer Time Hyde Park concert series on Friday.
The BBC is providing livestreams of the five main stages: Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Woodsies and The Park.