Johnny Marr Backs Kneecap Ahead of Glastonbury Fest: ‘Oppression Fears Artistic Expression'
Johnny Marr voiced his support for Kneecap ahead of their upcoming performance at Glastonbury, which comes as the Belfast hip-hop trio has faced waves of criticism for their support of Palestine.
'I've played Glastonbury many times and the festival has always had a political aspect,' the former Smiths guitarist said. 'It was founded as a place of free expression and political activism and it's a fact that I agreed to play there with the Smiths in 1984 purely because to do so at the time was a political act.'
More from Rolling Stone
Kneecap Removed From Scottish Festival TRNSMT Due to Police Safety 'Concerns'
Kneecap Play First Shows Since Terror Charge: 'They Tried to Stop This Gig'
Kneecap Respond to Terror Charge: 'This Is a Carnival of Distraction'
He continued: 'Oppression fears artistic expression. I respect all musicians who use their platform to speak out against injustice, who promote compassion and equality and give voice to the voiceless. I stand with my audience and fellow musicians who call for an immediate end to the atrocities and a free Palestine.'
Marr said he felt compelled to share his statement after 'learning that calls have been made for Kneecap to be censored during their Glastonbury set.'
Kneecap have claimed to be the target of a 'smear campaign' ever since their performance at Coachella in April, where the group broadcast a message onstage that read, 'Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,' and, 'It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.'
In the aftermath, Kneecap faced a wide array of criticism (including remarks from Sharon Osbourne and Johnny Rotten), and MC Mo Chara (real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) was even charged with a terror offense for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag and yelling 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah,' as well as, 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory,' at a London concert in 2024. (Ó hAnnaidh is expected to appear in court on June 18.)
Kneecap denied the latter allegation, claiming video of the incident was 'deliberately taken out of all context.' At a festival gig in London not long after the charge was brought, Ó hAnnaidh told the crowd that he believed the charge against him was accelerated 'because Glastonbury is just around the corner,' adding, 'They're trying to silence us from speaking on stage at Glastonbury the way we did at Coachella. That's a fact.'
Several U.K. politicians have called for Kneecap to be removed from future festival lineups, including Glastonbury and TRNSMT in Glasgow, Scotland. (Kneecap were booted from the latter festival 'due to concerns expressed by the police about safety at the event.') And just last week, DJ/producer Toddla T, who worked with Kneecap on their 2024 album, Fine Art, claimed that a cohort of music industry players, led by 'a very systemically powerful music agent,' had contacted Glastonbury 'urging them to remove Kneecap from the lineup.'
As it stands, Kneecap is still scheduled to perform June 28 on the West Holts Stage. The BBC has also previously said that it will not remove Kneecap from its coverage of Glastonbury.
Best of Rolling Stone
Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs
The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs
All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Louise Casey to appear before MPs after major review of child grooming failures
The author of the major review into grooming gangs which found authorities have 'shied away' from the ethnicity of sex offenders will face questions from MPs. Baroness Louise Casey will appear before the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Tuesday morning, after the Government set out plans to launch a new nationwide inquiry into grooming gangs following her rapid review of the scandal. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper claimed officials have dodged the issue of ethnicity among the groups of sex offenders for fear of being called racist, even though available data showed suspects were disproportionately likely to be Asian men. Speaking in the Commons on Monday as the review was published, the Home Secretary said 'much more robust national data is needed' on the ethnicity of offenders, adding that the authorities 'cannot and must not shy away from these findings'. Doing so would allow 'the criminality and depravity of a minority of men to be used to marginalise whole communities', she added. Lady Casey's report found that: 'The appalling lack of data on ethnicity in crime recording alone is a major failing over the last decade or more. Questions about ethnicity have been asked but dodged for years.' It added: 'We found that the ethnicity of perpetrators is shied away from and is still not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators, so we are unable to provide any accurate assessment from the nationally collected data.' Multiple convictions of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds should have 'warranted closer examination', it said, adding: 'Instead of examination, we have seen obfuscation. In a vacuum, incomplete and unreliable data is used to suit the ends of those presenting it.' Former Tory government adviser Dominic Cummings meanwhile claimed in an interview with Sky News that officials from the Department for Education were supportive of Rotherham Council's suggestion of going to court in 2011 to prevent the Times' initial reporting of the scandal in Rotherham. Lord Michael Gove, then the education secretary, rejected the request for a judicial review on Mr Cummings' advice, the broadcaster reported. Ms Cooper said the Government would take action 'immediately' on all of Lady Casey's recommendations, after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer committed to launching a national inquiry into the abuse. The recommendations included: – Making it mandatory to collect ethnicity and nationality data of all suspects in child sexual abuse cases – A new national inquiry into child sexual abuse with statutory legal powers, which will co-ordinate the efforts of local investigations led by councils and set out 'strict timescales' for them to follow. – A nationwide National Crime Agency operation, targeting people who have sexually exploited children, and following up on an estimated more than 1,000 cold cases where no one was convicted. – A change in the law so that all adult sex with under-16s is considered rape. – A review of criminal records held by victims of child sexual exploitation. In the Commons, Ms Cooper 'unequivocally' apologised for the failings which had led to grooming and child sexual abuse. The Home Secretary also pledged to exclude convicted sex offenders from the asylum system, while the report warned 'a significant proportion' of live investigations into grooming gangs 'appear to involve suspects who are non-UK nationals and/or who are claiming asylum in the UK'. In her report, Lady Casey said it is time to draw a line in the sand and take action over the issue, which she called 'one of the most heinous crimes in our society'. She also urged opposition politicians not to use the scandal as a 'political football', adding there was a chance to 'create a national reset'.
New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
March for Gaza descends into farce as fed-up Egyptians clash with woke mob
Anti-Israel activists clashed with Egyptian authorities and fed-up locals during a doomed attempted march to the border of the Gaza Strip by a disorderly rabble of protesters. Naive demonstrators taking part in a sit-in at a checkpoint outside the city of Ismailia, some 130 miles from the Rafah border crossing into the Palestinian territories, fought with both cops and Egyptian locals on Friday and Saturday, the Jerusalem Post reported. Footage over the weekend showed activists wearing keffiyehs — the checkered calling-card of the pro-Palestinian cause — clashing with fed-up Egyptian locals, some of whom could be seen hurling clubs and water bottles at the hapless protesters. Frustrated Egyptians, some little more than children, could be seen pulling the activists off the road as they staged a sit-down at the checkpoint. 6 A planned march to Gaza by foreign activists ended in chaos after Egyptian authorities stopped them in their tracks. @globalmarchgaza/X One clip showed 'free Palestine'-chanting activists — who were waving several different countries' flags — being attacked by what they claimed were plain-clothes officers. Other protesters could be seen breaking down in tears as they pleaded with an unmoved line of Egyptian riot cops with helmets to let them through. At least 88 foreign activists were detained or deported from Egypt over the weekend, Egyptian security sources confirmed. 6 Activists complained of being detained and having their passports confiscated by Egyptian authorities. Cops stopped vehicles some 20 miles outside of Ismailia, en route to Rafah, and forced passengers with non-Egyptian passports to get out, protest organizer Global March to Gaza said in an Instagram post on Friday. 'There are now reports of force being used against participants with some being detained, harassed, physically harmed and deported,' the post read. 'Hundreds of peaceful international participants of the Global March to Gaza remain in limbo as negotiations continue with Egyptian authorities. 6 The planned March to Gaza ended in farce. 'The group, comprised of people from over 80 countries, are expecting to be safely transferred to Cairo and have their passports returned,' the post continued. Protesters vowed to launch 'a non-violent protest' involving hunger strikes if Egypt attempted to 'forcibly' deport activists. 6 Protesters from some 80 countries were reportedly involved in the weekend's demonstration. Anadolu via Getty Images Egypt has been clear throughout that any visits to the Rafah border region with the Gaza Strip must be coordinated in advance with Egyptian embassies or government entities, the country's Foreign Ministry said over the weekend in response to the unrest. The chaotic sight of largely white, Western activists throwing a tantrum in the desert as Egyptian authorities brought their convoy to a shuddering halt drew comparisons to the Fyre Festival debacle from comedian and pundit Josh Howie. 6 The largely white crowd of demonstrators was pulled from the road by frustrated locals when they staged a sit-in at a checkpoint. @doamuslims/X 'Predictably, the would-be white saviours reacted with indignity when the uppity brown locals violently resisted their 'march.' They then resorted to anger and vitriol as they chanted 'Fuck Egypt' on buses taking them to their waiting planes,' Howie wrote in Spiked. 6 The stunt drew comparisons to Greta Thunberg's aborted Freedom Flotilla mission to Gaza. 'Did the Global March to Gaza organizers not understand that Egypt isn't just going to let them march into Gaza?' one X user wrote. 'This wall is there for a reason,' he added, sharing a picture of the Egypt and Gaza border wall. The Egypt debacle came just days after the failed Freedom Flotilla Coalition saw 12 activists, including climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg, detained by Israel after trying to reach Gaza via ship. 'Turns out blindly following Greta into the Middle East isn't just cringe—it's dangerous,' one online commentator wrote on X.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nicole Scherzinger reveals her wedding plans have stalled
Nicole Scherzinger has opened up about planning her upcoming wedding. The 46-year-old Tony award-winning singer and actress has been engaged to Scottish rugby hunk Thom Evans, 40, since 2023. The couple began their romance in 2019 and are looking forward to a future together, but it might be some time before they walk down the aisle due to Scherzinger's ongoing Broadway duties. The Don't Hold Your Breath singer told HELLO! magazine, "Oh, there's no wedding planning, honey. "When you do Broadway, it's only Broadway. You eat, sleep - you don't sleep much - and breathe Broadway." The star has been playing Norma Desmond in a smash hit production of Sunset Boulevard since 2023 - nabbing both an Olivier award and a Tony in the process. The Jamie Lloyd Company produced version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical started in London's West End before transferring to Broadway last year. While Scherzinger is dedicated to her acclaimed role, she has admitted she is proud that her husband-to-be is as dedicated to her. She told the publication, "Thank God I have a very understanding and wonderful and the most supportive fiancé." Scherzinger and Evans's romance was seemingly one of love at first sight after they met on the set of a celebrity version of the UK's The X Factor. The sportsman previously told The Sun, "People always say, 'When you know, you know,' and I can honestly say I'd never really had that moment. "But within the first couple of days with Nicole, it was just awesome and it has been awesome ever since."
