Thom Yorke reveals 'heavy toll my mental health' has suffered since walking off stage following pro-Palestine heckling and 'fills in the blanks' about his views on Israel-Gaza war
Radiohead's Thom Yorke has opened up about the 'heavy toll' his mental health has suffered since storming off stage after clashing with a pro-Palestine concertgoer.
The rock-star's revelation came in a social media post on Friday, in which he also spoke out abut his thoughts on the ongoing conflict between Israel Palestine.
'Some guy shouting at me from the dark last year when I was picking up a guitar to sing the final song alone in front of 9000 people in Melbourne didn't really seem like the best moment to discuss the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza,' he wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.
'Afterwards I remained in shock that my supposed silence was somehow being taken as complicity, and I struggled to find an adequate way to respond to this and to carry on with the rest of the shows on tour.'
'That silence, my attempt to show respect for all those who are suffering and those who have died, and to not trivialise it in a few words, has allowed other opportunistic groups to use intimidation and defamation to fill in the blanks, and I regret giving them this chance. This has had a heavy toll on my mental health,' he said.
Back in October, Yorke dared a heckler who disrupted his show to protest about the war in Gaza 'to come up on the stage and say that' before ultimately storming off.
The British rocker had taken to stage in Melbourne for a solo performance, but got in a tense exchange with a fan during the encore.
Yorke had started to play Radiohead's hit track Karma Police when an audience member started shouting to him on stage, while disgruntled members of the crowd were heard booing.
The protester was heard shouting in support of Gaza amid the war with Israel, and reportedly criticised Yorke for his silence on the issue.
Yorke responded by accusing him of being a 'coward' for heckling and urged him to come up on stage, before walking off himself.
In an expletive-laden rant, he said: 'Come up and say that. Right here. Come up on the f**king stage and say what you want to say. But don't stand there like a coward, come here and say it. Come on.
'You want to p**s on everybody's night? Come on. OK, you do. See you later then,' he added, before removing his guitar and leaving the stage.
The incident at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl venue sparked a huge outcry in the audience and Yorke eventually returned to the stage to continue playing his encore track to finish off his show.
In today's Instagram post, the singer went on to state his opposition to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, writing that they are 'totally out of control and need to be stopped, and that the international community should put all the pressure it can on them to cease.'
'Their excuse of self-defence has long since worn thin and has been replaced by a transparent desire to take control of Gaza and the West Bank permanently.'
Additionally, he called Israel's aid blockade 'horrific,' but also condemned Palestinian terror group Hamas.
'Why did Hamas choose the truly horrific acts of October 7th? The answer seems obvious, and I believe Hamas chooses to hide behind suffering to its people.'
His comments come days after hundreds of Palestinians stormed a United Nations food warehouse in Gaza in a desperate attempt to get food.
Four people died in the chaos, according to hospital officials.
The deaths came a day after a crowd was fired upon while overrunning a new aid-distribution site in Gaza set up by an Israeli and US-backed foundation, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding 48 others, Gaza's Health Ministry said.
Israeli forces - which are now in control of large parts of Gaza - have kept up attacks on various targets around the enclave, killing 3,91 Palestinians since a two-month-old ceasefire collapsed in March, according to Gaza officials.
In all, more than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground war, Gaza health authorities say.
It was launched following a cross-border Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023 that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
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