Glastonbury Festival has said chants about the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from punk duo Bob Vylan have “crossed the line”, with footage from their set to be assessed by English police.
Bobby Vylan led crowds on the festival’s West Holts Stage in chants of “Death, death to the IDF” on Saturday.
A member of Belfast rap trio Kneecap later suggested that fans should “start a riot” at his bandmate’s upcoming court appearance.
In a joint Instagram post, Glastonbury Festival and Emily Eavis, daughter of the festival’s founder Michael, said: “As a festival, we stand against all forms of war and terrorism.
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“We will always believe in – and actively campaign for – hope, unity, peace and love.
“With almost 4,000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer’s presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs.”
The post said Glastonbury and Ms Eavis were “appalled” by the statements made by Bob Vylan on Saturday.
“Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the Festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for anti-Semitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”
UK health secretary Wes Streeting said chants of “death” to the IDF at Glastonbury were “appalling” and that the BBC and festival have “questions to answer”.
“I thought it’s appalling, to be honest, and I think the BBC and Glastonbury have got questions to answer about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens,” Mr Streeting told Sky News.
He said what people should be talking about in the context of Israel and Gaza is the humanitarian catastrophe and the fact that Israeli settlers attacked a Christian village this week.
Asked if the BBC should have cut the live feed, he said the broadcaster has questions to answer. He said he did not know what the editorial and operational “challenges” involved were.
Avon and Somerset Police said video footage would be assessed by officers “to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation”.
On social media, the Israeli embassy in Britain said it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called the scenes “grotesque”, writing on X: “Glorifying violence against Jews isn’t edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked.”
A BBC spokesperson saod: “Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive.
“During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.”
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to the BBC director general about Bob Vylan’s performance, a UK government spokesperson said.
Kneecap have been in the headlines after member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who performs under the name Mo Chara, was charged with a terror offence.
In reference to his bandmate’s forthcoming court date, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, who performs under the name Móglaí Bap, said they would “start a riot outside the courts”, before clarifying: “No riots just love and support, and support for Palestine”.
In the run-up to the festival at Worthy Farm in Somerset, several politicians called for Kneecap to be removed from the line-up and prime minister Keir Starmer said their performance would not be “appropriate”.
During the performance, Ó Cairealláin said: “The prime minister of your country, not mine, said he didn’t want us to play, so f**k Keir Starmer.”
He also said a “big thank you to the Eavis family” and said “they stood strong” amid calls for the organisers to drop them from the line-up. – PA
