Latest news with #HelenWilson
Wales Online
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Kneecap bring surprise guest on stage at Green Man
Kneecap bring surprise guest on stage at Green Man Irish rap trio Kneecap addressed the BBC's decision not to live stream their Glastonbury Festival set as they welcomed Welsh cafe owner Helen Wilson on stage at Green Man The trio performed at this year's Green Man festival in Bannau Brycheiniog (Image: Parri Thomas - @photo_parri) Irish rap trio Kneecap launched a scathing attack on the BBC during their Green Man Festival performance on Thursday evening, with the group chanting "f*** the BBC". The band slammed the broadcaster after it refused to air their Glastonbury Festival set live. Throughout their politically-charged show at the festival, the Belfast-based group also spoke about their continued backing for Palestine and band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh's forthcoming court date. Thousands of festival-goers packed their Far Out stage performance, with crowds overflowing beyond the venue. The trio also brought Helen Wilson onto the stage - the Welsh café proprietor who livestreamed their Glastonbury appearance on TikTok to millions of viewers. The band hailed Helen as their "hero". "Diolch," they said to the Green Man audience. "It's not a bad crowd for our first time playing in a festival in Wales.", they went on: "We recently played Glastonbury and the BBC wouldn't live stream our set. F*** the BBC." They continued: "So the BBC, they said that they wouldn't show Kneecap live... but there was one woman. Do you know who we are talking about?". Article continues below "There was one hero who decided to TikTok live our gig, and she's from Wales. Can we have a massive round of applause for Helen?". The café owner appeared alongside the trio on stage and was spotted embracing band member Móglaí Bap as the audience erupted in cheers. In June, demands emerged to cancel their Glastonbury appearance, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer declaring the planned performance at Worthy Farm was not "appropriate", following charges against band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known as Mo Chara, for a terror offence related to displaying a Hezbollah-supporting flag during a 2024 gig. Mo Chara has rejected the allegations, branding the terror offence charge a "political" manoeuvre intended to "silence" the group. Festival organisers at Glastonbury declined to axe the trio's slot on the West Holts stage. The BBC opted against live streaming their set, though they subsequently made a largely uncut version available on BBC iPlayer. From right to left: Kneecap members Liam Og O Hannaigh (Mo Chara), JJ O'Dochartaigh (DJ Provai), and Naoise O Caireallain (Moglai Bap) who performed at Green Man festival on Thursday (Image: © 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved) Helen,rom Swansea, live streamed Kneecap's performance on TikTok, attracting interaction from over two million viewers. The BBC stated at the time: "Whilst the BBC doesn't ban artists, our plans ensure that our programming meets our editorial guidelines. "We don't always live stream every act from the main stages and look to make an on-demand version of Kneecap's performance available on our digital platforms, alongside more than 90 other sets." During their appearance on the Far Out stage at Green Man Festival, the band also referenced Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh's forthcoming court date, mentioning he would return to court "next Wednesday", apparently confirming the hearing would occur on Wednesday, August 20. On stage, the rapper declared his intention to challenge the British government in court once again, stating: "to beat the British government in their own court for the second time". He further explained: "they stole our funding two years ago, and we went to court and we won," referring to the band's previous legal victory against current Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch, who had blocked an arts grant to the band in 2023. Liam added: "And this time, we are going back to their court and we're going to beat them again." The band revealed that it was their debut performance at a Welsh festival, referring to the audience as their "Celtic brothers". They expressed: "Celtic brothers have to stand together as we can't trust the British government". The band later emphasised the importance of "international solidarity" in the current times. "We are from west Belfast and Derry. Places that know colonialism all too well, as you know yourselves," they shared with the crowd. The band pledged to continue speaking out about Palestine, describing the situation as a genocide and leading the crowd in a "Free, Free Palestine" chant. Article continues below Green Man Festival is set to wrap up on Sunday, August 17. This year's Bannau Brycheiniog event will feature performances from the likes of Underworld, Wet Leg, CMAT, Perfume Genius, John Grant, Wunderhorse, Gwenno and English Teacher.
North Wales Live
a day ago
- Entertainment
- North Wales Live
Kneecap bring Welsh cafe owner on stage at Green Man as they attack BBC
Irish rap trio Kneecap took a swipe at the BBC during their performance at Green Man Festival on Thursday night, with the band chanting "f*** the BBC". They criticised the corporation following its decision not to broadcast the group's set live from Glastonbury Festival. During their politically charged performance at the festival, the band from Belfast also addressed their ongoing support for Palestine and band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh's upcoming court appearance. Thousands of festival goers attended their set on the Far Out stage, with crowds spilling outside. The trio welcomed Helen Wilson on stage, the Welsh cafe owner who live streamed their Glastonbury performance on TikTok, which attracted millions of viewers. The band described Helen as their "hero". "Diolch," they told the crowd at Green Man. "It's not a bad crowd for our first time playing in a festival in Wales." They continued: "We recently played Glastonbury and the BBC wouldn't live stream our set. F*** the BBC." They added: "So the BBC, they said that they wouldn't show Kneecap live... but there was one woman. Do you know who we are talking about? "There was one hero who decided to TikTok live our gig, and she's from Wales. Can we have a massive round of applause for Helen?" The cafe owner joined the trio on stage and was seen giving band member Móglaí Bap a big hug as the crowd gave a loud cheer. In June, calls were made to pull their Glastonbury slot, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying the planned performance at Worthy Farm was not "appropriate", after band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known as Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence for displaying a Hezbollah-supporting flag during a gig in 2024. Mo Chara has denied the offence, labelling the terror offence charge a "political" move designed to "silence" them. Glastonbury organisers refused to pull the trio's slot on the West Holts stage at the festival. However, while the BBC decided not to live stream their performance, they later uploaded a largely unedited version of their performance on BBC iPlayer. Welsh cafe owner Helen Wilson from Swansea live streamed Kneecap's performance on TikTok, which saw over two million people interact with the broadcast. At the time the BBC said: "Whilst the BBC doesn't ban artists, our plans ensure that our programming meets our editorial guidelines. "We don't always live stream every act from the main stages and look to make an on-demand version of Kneecap's performance available on our digital platforms, alongside more than 90 other sets." On the Far Out stage at Green Man Festival, the band also addressed Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh's upcoming court appearance, saying that he would be back in court "next Wednesday", seemingly confirming that it would take place on Wednesday, August 20. On stage, the rapper said that he was returning to the court "to beat the British government in their own court for the second time". He later added that "they stole our funding two years ago, and we went to court and we won," which was in reference to the band winning a case against now Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch after she blocked an arts grant to the band in 2023. Liam continued: "And this time, we are going back to their court and we're going to beat them again." The band confirmed that this was their first time performing at a Welsh festival and referred to the crowd as their "Celtic brothers". They said: "Celtic brothers have to stand together as we can't trust the British government". The band later said there was a need for "international solidarity" now more than ever. "We are from west Belfast and Derry. Places that know colonialism all to well, as you know yourselves," they told the crowd. The band also said that they would "not stop talking" about Palestine, describing it as a genocide and led the crowd to a "Free, Free Palestine" chant. Green Man Festival concludes on Sunday, August 17. The Bannau Brycheiniog event will see the likes of Underworld, Wet Leg, CMAT, Perfume Genius, John Grant, Wunderhorse, Gwenno and English Teacher perform this year.
Wales Online
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Kneecap bring Welsh cafe owner on stage at Green Man as they attack BBC
Kneecap bring Welsh cafe owner on stage at Green Man as they attack BBC It was Kneecap's first time performing at a festival in Wales and they referred to the crowd as their "Celtic brothers" Thousands watched Kneecap's set at Green Man Festival (Image: © 2025 PA Media, All Rights Reserved) Irish rap trio Kneecap took a swipe at the BBC during their performance at Green Man Festival on Thursday night, with the band chanting "f*** the BBC". They criticised the corporation following its decision not to broadcast the group's set live from Glastonbury Festival. During their politically charged performance at the festival, the band from Belfast also addressed their ongoing support for Palestine and band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh's upcoming court appearance. Thousands of festival goers attended their set on the Far Out stage, with crowds spilling outside. The trio welcomed Helen Wilson on stage, the Welsh cafe owner who live streamed their Glastonbury performance on TikTok, which attracted millions of viewers. The band described Helen as their "hero". "Diolch," they told the crowd at Green Man. "It's not a bad crowd for our first time playing in a festival in Wales." They continued: "We recently played Glastonbury and the BBC wouldn't live stream our set. F*** the BBC." Article continues below They added: "So the BBC, they said that they wouldn't show Kneecap live... but there was one woman. Do you know who we are talking about? "There was one hero who decided to TikTok live our gig, and she's from Wales. Can we have a massive round of applause for Helen?" The cafe owner joined the trio on stage and was seen giving band member Móglaí Bap a big hug as the crowd gave a loud cheer. In June, calls were made to pull their Glastonbury slot, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying the planned performance at Worthy Farm was not "appropriate", after band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known as Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence for displaying a Hezbollah-supporting flag during a gig in 2024. Mo Chara has denied the offence, labelling the terror offence charge a "political" move designed to "silence" them. Glastonbury organisers refused to pull the trio's slot on the West Holts stage at the festival. However, while the BBC decided not to live stream their performance, they later uploaded a largely unedited version of their performance on BBC iPlayer. Welsh cafe owner Helen Wilson from Swansea live streamed Kneecap's performance on TikTok, which saw over two million people interact with the broadcast. At the time the BBC said: "Whilst the BBC doesn't ban artists, our plans ensure that our programming meets our editorial guidelines. "We don't always live stream every act from the main stages and look to make an on-demand version of Kneecap's performance available on our digital platforms, alongside more than 90 other sets." On the Far Out stage at Green Man Festival, the band also addressed Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh's upcoming court appearance, saying that he would be back in court "next Wednesday", seemingly confirming that it would take place on Wednesday, August 20. The trio performed at this year's Green Man festival in Bannau Brycheiniog (Image: Parri Thomas - @photo_parri) On stage, the rapper said that he was returning to the court "to beat the British government in their own court for the second time". He later added that "they stole our funding two years ago, and we went to court and we won," which was in reference to the band winning a case against now Conservative party leader Kemi Badenoch after she blocked an arts grant to the band in 2023. Liam continued: "And this time, we are going back to their court and we're going to beat them again." The band confirmed that this was their first time performing at a Welsh festival and referred to the crowd as their "Celtic brothers". They said: "Celtic brothers have to stand together as we can't trust the British government". The band later said there was a need for "international solidarity" now more than ever. "We are from west Belfast and Derry. Places that know colonialism all to well, as you know yourselves," they told the crowd. The band also said that they would "not stop talking" about Palestine, describing it as a genocide and led the crowd to a "Free, Free Palestine" chant. Article continues below Green Man Festival concludes on Sunday, August 17. The Bannau Brycheiniog event will see the likes of Underworld, Wet Leg, CMAT, Perfume Genius, John Grant, Wunderhorse, Gwenno and English Teacher perform this year.
The Guardian
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Woman who livestreamed Kneecap Glastonbury set targeted by online abuse
A woman who livestreamed Kneecap's Glastonbury festival set to 2 million people on TikTok has described the 'obscene' abuse she says has received in the aftermath, including people calling her a Nazi. Helen Wilson, a Swansea-based yoga teacher who also runs the Ground Plant Based Coffee cafe, said she had been sent a lot of personal insults, but that she had received 'hundreds and hundreds times more support than negativity'. It came after she held up her phone in the crowd to stream the set by the Irish rap trio last Saturday, which the BBC refused to show live, over what it said were efforts to ensure it 'meets our editorial guidelines'. The BBC later made an edited version available on iPlayer, though the broadcaster did not respond to the Guardian when asked what had been cut out. Wilson said: 'I just thought, I'm just going to livestream it because the BBC aren't showing it. And I really disagreed with that. I did not think for a moment that over 2 million people would see it.' It was only her second TikTok live stream on her handle HelenWilsonWales – her first, about her weight loss, had no viewers at all – and initially she had not realised how many people were watching because the sun was shining on her phone screen. 'But I could see that when you're doing a live stream, loads of messages pop up and people can talk to you. So the screen was going mental. People were just like ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping. 'And I was like: 'Oh, my god, something's happening here,' and so I just knew I had to carry on. People were saying to me: 'Please keep going, do what you can, please keep going.' And then that was it,' said Wilson, who grew up in Somerset and was working at the festival. The stream was spreading through word of mouth, as viewers sent it to their friends and family, and Wilson found out later that at one point it was playing on a big screen in a pub in the band's home town. She told the Guardian: 'I have had a lot of trolling. When you rang, I was just in the middle of deleting some obscene comments off my business Facebook page.' 'There was somebody on Instagram just saying he sent me a message saying: 'You're just a wrinkled old woman looking for attention.'' '[In a tabloid newspaper] I've been referred to as a middle-aged woman. Like, what has that got to do with anything?' said the 44-year-old. She said: 'This is about the genocide in Palestine, and this is about the failure of our government to act, to do anything about it.' Wilson added: 'More people need to know what is going on in Palestine. And we shouldn't be censoring bands under freedom of speech, full stop. We shouldn't be censoring anybody who is trying to raise awareness of the atrocities that are taking place.' Afterwards, Kneecap called her a 'legend' and offered her free tickets to any of their shows. On Saturday, while supporting Fontaines DC in Finsbury Park, the band once again led 45,000 people in chants of 'fuck Keir Starmer'. The band were far from alone in their sentiments at Glastonbury – dozens of acts and figures at the festival spoke out in support of Palestine, including CMAT, the Libertines, Gary Lineker, Joy Crookes, TV on the Radio, Sorry and Paloma Faith. Kneecap were also backed by Emily and Michael Eavis, the festival's organisers, with Emily telling the BBC that 'everyone is welcome', before their set.
Irish Times
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Kneecap owe Keir Starmer, the BBC and Helen from Wales a thank you
Helen from Wales won Glastonbury . She didn't sing or dance or chant a death threat. She held up her phone and live-streamed the whole Kneecap show on TikTok, 'even burning her finger on the overheating device', reported the Sun admiringly, 'to bring the music to the masses'. Kneecap hailed her as a 'legend'. From which you might infer that earning legend status can be nice work. But Helen Wilson is a very modern kind of legend. She surprised herself by thrashing the crusty old BBC at its own game – though it's arguable if 1.7 million people actually watched or just liked her livestream as opposed to the 7,200 who definitely watched. It also left Keir Starmer looking like the infamous 1990s judge who inquired if Gazza (the world-famous footballer and also the plaintiff) might be an operetta called La Gazza Ladra. The BBC probably workshopped 10 impossible ways to livestream the Kneecap gig, ie to bleep out any recurrences of calls to kill your local Tory MP – for which the band subsequently apologised to the families of two murdered MPs – while weighing accusations of censorship alongside the terror-related charges against a band member (for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hizbullah and saying 'up Hamas, up Hizbullah'). It eventually settled on releasing an edited form on iPlayer, saying it was due to fears it would breach 'editorial guidelines' on impartiality. The wonder is that the thousands of attendees fulminating about censorship didn't respond as Helen did with her TikTok stream, which is now being lionised as another near-lethal shot across the BBC/MSM's bows. Glastonbury forbids the unauthorised recording and disseminating of live performances but Helen isn't worried. Some things are too important not to be heard, she says. READ MORE If Kneecap's pro-Palestine stance is noisy and relentless (reflecting in principle the impotent fury of many people, young and old), it's right up there with the band's marketing nous. Among the many stunts designed to 'p**s off' just about everyone, they brought a PSNI Land Rover with them to the Sundance film festival last year (where their semi-autobiographical film with a Gerry Adams cameo won the audience award) and found a place called Provo to have their picture taken with it. 'It ended up that we were on the front of all the magazines, because of that jeep,' Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (Mo Chara) told The Guardian. The alleged Hizbullah flag-waving incident was preceded by a social media image posted by the band of a member reading the Hizbullah leader's writings. Their official website leads with quotes from the Los Angeles Times – 'reminiscent of early Eminem' – saying the band has 'built up a notoriety for themselves which hasn't been seen in Irish music for many years'. So it's fair to say that they've leant into the notoriety – but not without a heap of marketing gifts from British officialdom along the way. The band won a legal action against the UK government when the latter overruled the awarding of a £14,250 grant to them under a scheme that supports UK-based music acts abroad. But there's nothing to beat the clamour around a prime minister's condemnation – until you compound it with the agonising decisions faced by a state-funded broadcaster. When asked if he thought Kneecap should perform in Glastonbury, Starmer could have refused to comment, on the grounds that there was an ongoing case. Instead he pronounced that the band's performance would not be 'appropriate …'. The rest was wildly predictable. No edgy band wants to be declared 'appropriate' by anyone, never mind a grey prime minister, in a world where the US president uses f**k for emphasis. So naturally the show became the most anticipated set of the weekend. The field around the stage was closed early to prevent a crush. Far from softening its cough, the band heightened the drama by showing a video montage of its enemies, including Sharon Osborne calling them a hate group, then kicked off a chant of 'F**k Keir Starmer' in a charged, triumphant gig . Hardly original as chants go – two songs with that title already exist – but it did the job. The sum total of Starmer's and the BBC's achievement was to ratchet up the protesting and ensure that any artist worth their inappropriate tag would shout 'Free Palestine' (at least) during a set, have a Palestinian flag on stage or be wearing a keffiyeh. And no one sussed that the act just before Kneecap, a self-described 'violent punk' London duo Bob Vylan, hitherto unknown to the masses – until the hapless BBC streamed them live and failed to pull the plug – would make the Irish band's act look almost puppyish. 'Sometimes we have to get our message across with violence', said frontman Bobby Vylan, who led a chant of 'death, death to the IDF'. British police are investigating both performances, though legal experts believe it's futile since the accused's intent at the time – what he intended to happen or believed might happen as a result of his words – decides the matter. So legal vindication once again most likely – although it's worth noting that Bob Vylan are paying the professional and financial price in terms of being dropped by their management, cancelled shows and revoked US tour visas. Long-time music critics writing about Kneecap blend admiration with caution. The Glastonbury lead-up was 'a perfect example of how quickly stories can become overheated in 2025″, writes The Guardian's Alexis Petridis . 'Vastly more people now have an opinion about Kneecap than have ever heard their music, which is, traditionally, a tricky and destructive position for a band to find themselves in.' [ Kneecap would not face prosecution under new Irish anti-terrorism laws, Minister insists Opens in new window ] But who loaded fuel on to the stories? Keir Starmer surprised us – again – by failing to consider his own contribution while delivering a petty told-you-so to the self-flagellating BBC: 'I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence ...' For Kneecap, the upshot of the weekend is a coveted invitation to take the main stage at Electric Picnic . 'This is going to be a special one,' said the festival about its sudden announcement. That's show business.
