IAG Parts With Irish Hip-Hop Trio Kneecap After Anti-Israel Coachella Performance
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap has parted ways with their booking agency Independent Artist Group, TheWrap has learned.
The controversial music trio (made up of DJ Próvaí, Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap) split with their agency sometime during the first and second weekends of the Coachella music festival. The group made waves there when rapper Mo Chara told the Coachella crowd, 'The Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the f—king skies with nowhere to go. The Palestinians have nowhere to go.' Chara then led the crowd in 'Free Palestine' chants. Projections on the screen behind the group read 'Fuck Israel. Free Palestine' along with another screen that accused Israel of 'committing genocide against the Palestinian people.'
The band maintained that their first-weekend set, featuring their pro-Palestine messaging had been censored by the festival. Kneecap's weekend two set was not live-streamed but images still made the rounds. According to music industry insiders who spoke with TheWrap, Coachella was warned more than once that Kneecap would take an aggressive anti-Israel stance when they were booked and still did nothing.
'Goldenvoice and AEG are claiming they were blindsided by the band and had no clue,' Ari Ingel, executive director of pro-Israel entertainment nonprofit Creative Community for Peace, told The Wrap. 'This is a lie. They knew, and they refused to act.'
Kneecap came under harsh criticism from multiple groups and individuals, including Jewish organization the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Sharon Osbourne following the performances.
'Coachella 2025 will be remembered as a festival that compromised its moral and spiritual integrity,' the latter wrote on Instagram. 'Kneecap, an Irish rap group, took their performance to a different level by incorporating aggressive political statements.'
The hip-hop group clapped back at Osbourne and the backlash in general on Wednesday.
'Statements aren't aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though.' Kneecap manager Daniel Lambert also told Irish radio broadcaster RTÉ, 'If somebody is hurt by the truth, that's something for them to be hurt by, but it's really important to speak truth. Thankfully the lads are not afraid to do that.'
The post IAG Parts With Irish Hip-Hop Trio Kneecap After Anti-Israel Coachella Performance appeared first on TheWrap.
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