Latest news with #RichPeppiatt
Toronto Sun
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Member of Irish rap trio Kneecap charged with terror offense in U.K.
Published May 21, 2025 • 1 minute read Rich Peppiatt, Naoise ó Cairealláin, DJ Provaí and Mo Chara of Kneecap pose on arrival at the Britain Independent Film Awards on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in London. Photo by Thomas Krych / Invision/AP Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. LONDON — British police on Wednesday charged a member of Irish hip-hop group Kneecap with a terrorism offense for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The Metropolitan Police force said Liam 'g ' hAnnaidh, 27, was charged under the Terrorism Act with displaying a flag in support a proscribed organization. The alleged offense happened at the Kentish Town Forum, a London concert venue, on Nov. 21, 2024. The force said the musician — whose stage name is Mo Chara and whom police referred to by the English spelling of his name, Liam O'Hanna — was charged by postal requisition and is due in court on June 18. Police are still investigating footage from another Kneecap concert in November 2023. The Belfast trio has been praised for invigorating the Irish-language cultural scene in Northern Ireland, where the status of the language remains a contested political issue in a society still split between British unionist and Irish nationalist communities. It has also been criticized for lyrics laden with expletives and drug references and for political statements. Kneecap was not well known outside Northern Ireland before the release of a raucous feature film loosely based on the band's origins and fueled by a heavy mix of drugs, sex, violence, politics and humor. The group's members played themselves in 'Kneecap,' which won an audience award when it was screened at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. It was shortlisted for best foreign-language picture and best original song at this year's Academy Awards, though it didn't make the final cut. Canada Canada Toronto Maple Leafs Golf Columnists
Japan Today
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Today
UK counterterror police say they will investigate comments by Irish rap group Kneecap
FILE - Rich Peppiatt, Naoise ó Cairealláin, DJ Provaí and Mo Chara of Kneecap pose on arrival at the Britain Independent Film Awards on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in London. (Photo by Thomas Krych/Invision/AP, File) British police said Thursday that counterterrorism detectives will investigate comments by Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, which has been criticized by UK politicians over statements about the Middle East and British politics. The Irish-language rappers from Northern Ireland were reported to police over footage from a 2024 concert in which a band member appeared to say: 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.' Footage from another concert, in 2023, appears to show a member of the trio shouting 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' – both banned organizations in the UK. London's Metropolitan Police force said the videos 'were referred to the Counter Terrorism internet Referral Unit for assessment by specialist officers, who have determined there are grounds for further investigation into potential offenses linked to both videos. 'The investigation is now being carried out by officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command and inquiries remain ongoing at this time,' the force said in a statement. The Belfast trio is known for satirical lyrics and use of symbolism associated with the Irish republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, currently part of the UK, with the Republic of Ireland. More than 3,600 people were killed during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland involving Irish republican militants, pro-British Loyalist militias and the UK security forces. Kneecap's comments were criticized in the House of Commons this week by government and opposition lawmakers, who noted that two members of Parliament have been murdered since 2016. In a statement on Instagram, band members Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh apologized to the families of Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox, who was killed in by a far-right attacker in 2016, and Conservative legislator David Amess, murdered in 2021 by an Islamic State supporter. The group said 'we never intended to cause you hurt.' Kneecap said it had 'never supported Hamas or Hezbollah,' and accused 'establishment figures' of taking comments out of context to 'manufacture moral hysteria' because of the band's criticism of Israel's attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Several Kneecap gigs have been canceled as a result of the controversy, and some British lawmakers have called on organizers of June's Glastonbury Festival to scrap a planned performance by the group. Fellow musicians have come to the rappers' defense. Several dozen performers, including British rock group Primal Scream, Irish band Fontaines D.C. and mod singer Paul Weller have signed an open letter criticizing a 'clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform' Kneecap and opposing 'political repression of artistic freedom.' © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The Herald Scotland
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
All of the Kneecap gigs that have been cancelled amid police probe
The footage from November 2023 appears to show one member of the group saying: 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.' The group apologised on Monday to the families of murdered MPs but claimed footage of the incident had been 'exploited and weaponised', while they also said they have 'never supported' Hamas or Hezbollah, which are both banned organisations in the UK. – Cancelled Kneecap gigs – Eden Sessions The Irish rap group were due to perform their first show in Cornwall at the Eden Project on July 4. An Eden Sessions spokesperson said on Tuesday: 'Eden Sessions Limited announced today that the Kneecap show at Eden Project scheduled for July 4 2025 has been cancelled. 'Ticket purchasers will be contacted directly and will be fully refunded. 'The refund process will commence from Wednesday, April 30 2025. Refunds will be processed against the original payment cards used. 'Purchasers should allow six working days for funds to be received into their accounts.' The Eden Sessions are a series of concerts which take place at the Cornwall botanical gardens yearly, with this year's series including performances from Biffy Clyro, The Script and Texas. The Streets frontman Mike Skinner was slated for a DJ set at the Kneecap concert. A reason for the show's cancellation was not given. Kneecap and director Rich Peppiatt in the press room during the 78th British Academy Film Awards (Ian West/PA) – Plymouth Pavilions After their Cornwall gig was cancelled, Moglai Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Provai announced they would be playing at Plymouth Pavilions on the date they were due to play at the Eden Project. On Thursday, a note on the Plymouth Pavilions website said the concert had been scrapped. 'Having taken advice from relevant authorities and agencies, it has been agreed that Kneecap's performance at our venue will no longer go ahead', it said. 'The safety of our valued visitors is always our primary concern and as such we feel confident in this decision – no further communications will be entered into.' – German festivals On April 25 the band announced in a post to X, formerly Twitter, that they would no longer be performing at Hurricane or Southside Festival in Germany. In the post they included links to performances in Cologne, Berlin and Hamburg, taking place in September, and wrote: 'Tickets for our first ever German headline shows are ON SALE NOW with links below.' The links to the ticket websites now say that the event has been 'cancelled'. – Where will Kneecap be performing this summer? The band are supporting Irish rock band Fontaines DC at Boucher Playing Fields, Belfast, in August and said that tickets for the show sold out within half-an-hour after they went on sale on April 25. In the UK and Ireland they are billed to perform at Wide Awake Festival in London on May 23, Fairview Park in Dublin on June 19 and Finsbury Park on July 5. There are also due to play at 2000trees rock festival on July 10, TRNSMT in Scotland on July 11, Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on August 15 and Belfast Vital on August 29. Regarding the controversy and subsequent police investigation, festivals in the Netherlands and Czech Republic told the PA news agency that they are 'monitoring the situation'. A spokesperson for Paradiso Festival in Amsterdam said: 'We are following the news around Kneecap and are aware of the investigation currently being conducted by the Counter Terrorism Police. 'We will see what comes out of that investigation. We will then take the investigation results into consideration and decide if it has consequences for the shows at Paradiso.' Rock for People in the Czech Republic said in a statement: 'We understand your concerns. We will monitor the situation and will consider next steps.' Kneecap previously came under fire for their performance at Coachella on April 18 where they displayed messages about the war in Gaza. Kneecap has been contacted for comment.
The Guardian
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Listen closely to the Kneecap furore. You'll hear hypocrisy from all sides
Earlier this year, the Northern Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap appeared to be entering their respectable phase. Their self-titled film, a raucous semi-fictionalised biopic directed by Rich Peppiatt, won a Bafta for outstanding British debut, while Kemi Badenoch's attempt to block a grant awarded by the British Phonographic Industry was overturned in court. As the film illustrates, Kneecap were accustomed to being denounced by unionist MPs but both sides reaped useful publicity. 'We have a very dysfunctional, symbiotic relationship,' admitted rapper Naoise Ó Cairealláin. This process was dramatically derailed last week when Kneecap touched the third rail of Gaza and accused Israel of genocide on stage at Coachella festival in California. Cue fury from Fox News, calls for their visas to be revoked and, according to their manager, death threats. The British press combed through old videos and found clips that appear to show two explosive onstage pronouncements from Kneecap's November 2023 UK tour: 'Up Hamas, up Hezbollah' and 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.' Denunciations came thick and fast: Keir Starmer's spokesperson, the security minister, Dan Jarvis, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and relatives of the murdered MPs Jo Cox and David Amess all denounced the apparent remarks. The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, accused Kneecap of representing nothing less than 'despicable evil'. Their concert at Cornwall's Eden Project has been cancelled, as have several shows in Germany. Glastonbury, among other festivals, is facing immense pressure to drop them, too. The Met's counter-terrorism command has launched an investigation. Badenoch, bearing a grudge, says they should be prosecuted for incitement and have been 'avoiding justice for far too long'. Some artists seek controversy while others have it thrust upon them. The Sex Pistols released God Save the Queen during the silver jubilee as a calculated provocation, leading to a BBC ban but massive sales. Pulp, however, never expected the playfully druggy packaging of their 1995 single Sorted for E's and Wizz to land on the front page of the Daily Mirror with the timeless headline 'Ban This Sick Stunt'. Kneecap seem to be in the Sex Pistols tradition. When I interviewed them last year, Ó Cairealláin admitted: 'We're very calculated in our PR stuff. We know things are going to get a reaction.' But sometimes the scale of a backlash far exceeds expectations. Cop Killer, a 1992 single by Ice-T's rock band Body Count, inspired condemnation from the then US president, George HW Bush, and a police-led boycott of the whole of Time Warner until Ice-T buckled and removed the song from the album. Off-the-cuff remarks should carry less weight than recorded lyrics, but tell that to the previously obscure rapper Sister Souljah, whose comments on the LA riots that same year were used by Bill Clinton to distance himself from his Black rival Jesse Jackson during his presidential campaign, thus spawning the phrase 'Sister Souljah moment' to describe strategic scapegoating. Loose talk is even more dangerous in the online era. While writing a history of protest songs I came across more than one artist fantasising about a politician's assassination in the 1980s, but their quotes never travelled beyond the music press. Yet the Dixie Chicks' – now the Chicks – fairly mild criticism of then president George W Bush at a London show in 2003 (they told a crowd that they were 'ashamed' that Bush was also from Texas) went viral and killed their country music career. Nothing can be safely forgotten now. Kneecap's 2023 remarks are hard to defend on their merits, even in the context of their activist reputation. Their republicanism is unapologetic: they largely rap in Irish and call their homeland 'the north of Ireland'. (Their name refers to the IRA's punishment for drug dealers, identifying the band with the latter.) Their solidarity with the Palestinian people is equally sincere, but celebrating proscribed terrorist groups is something else. Perhaps it's the kind of careless radical chic that briefly led the Clash's Joe Strummer to valorise Italy's Red Brigade in the late 1970s. Perhaps not. The band's recent statement, while apologising to the families of Cox and Amess and identifying the outrage as part of a broader effort to delegitimise support for Palestine, did not clear things up. They claimed 'We do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah' and would never 'seek to incite violence against any MP'. So, did they say those words? If so, what did they mean by them? If they have been taken out of context, then what was the context? The Cop Killer example is clarifying. Ice-T was clearly singing about killing cops but wasn't actually encouraging murder. Likewise, Kneecap are not an active security threat. Within music, there is ample room for such ambiguity, provocation and free expression of outlaw thoughts. But in the harsher light of the tabloids, social media, parliament and policing, tossed-off slogans appear savagely literal and have real consequences. This controversy has inspired hypocrisy on both sides. While Kneecap's rightwing critics are suddenly enthusiastic about 'cancel culture' and 'offence archaeology', their defenders have transformed into free-speech absolutists. One thing invariably holds true though: politicians who attack musicians come off as opportunistic, authoritarian and often foolish in their thirst for soft targets. Ban this sick stunt. Dorian Lynskey is a writer, podcaster and author of 33 Revolutions Per Minute and The Ministry of Truth Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Toronto Sun
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
U.K. counterterror police say they will investigate comments by Irish rap group Kneecap
Published May 01, 2025 • 2 minute read FILE - Rich Peppiatt, Naoise ó Cairealláin, DJ Provaí and Mo Chara of Kneecap pose on arrival at the Britain Independent Film Awards on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in London. Photo by Thomas Krych / Thomas Krych/Invision/AP LONDON (AP) — British police said Thursday that counterterrorism detectives will investigate comments by Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, which has been criticized by U.K. politicians over statements about the Middle East and British politics. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The Irish-language rappers from Northern Ireland were reported to police over footage from a 2024 concert in which a band member appeared to say: 'The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.' Footage from another concert, in 2023, appears to show a member of the trio shouting 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah' — both banned organizations in the U.K. London's Metropolitan Police force said the videos 'were referred to the Counter Terrorism internet Referral Unit for assessment by specialist officers, who have determined there are grounds for further investigation into potential offences linked to both videos. 'The investigation is now being carried out by officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command and inquiries remain ongoing at this time,' the force said in a statement. The Belfast trio is known for satirical lyrics and use of symbolism associated with the Irish republican movement, which seeks to unite Northern Ireland, currently part of the U.K., with the Republic of Ireland. More than 3,600 people were killed during three decades of violence in Northern Ireland involving Irish republican militants, pro-British Loyalist militias and the U.K. security forces. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Kneecap's comments were criticized in the House of Commons this week by government and opposition lawmakers, who noted that two members of Parliament have been murdered since 2016. In a statement on Instagram, band members Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh apologized to the families of Labour Party lawmaker Jo Cox, who was killed in by a far-right attacker in 2016, and Conservative legislator David Amess, murdered in 2021 by an Islamic State supporter. The group said 'we never intended to cause you hurt.' Kneecap said it had 'never supported Hamas or Hezbollah,' and accused 'establishment figures' of taking comments out of context to 'manufacture moral hysteria' because of the band's criticism of Israel's attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. Several Kneecap gigs have been cancelled as a result of the controversy, and some British lawmakers have called on organizers of June's Glastonbury Festival to scrap a planned performance by the group. Fellow musicians have come to the rappers' defence. Several dozen performers, including British rock group Primal Scream, Irish band Fontaines D.C. and mod singer Paul Weller have signed an open letter criticizing a 'clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately deplatform' Kneecap and opposing 'political repression of artistic freedom.' Sunshine Girls Columnists Travel USA Sunshine Girls Editorial Cartoons
