The BBC has been reprimanded by the United Kingdom’s Government after the public broadcaster broadcast a rap group leading chants of “death to the IDF” on stage at Glastonbury.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy phoned Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, demanding that he explain why the performance by Bob Vylan, a rap duo, was shown live.
A spokesman for Nandy said: “We strongly condemn the threatening comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.
“The Culture Secretary has spoken to the BBC director-general to seek an urgent explanation about what due diligence it carried out ahead of the Bob Vylan performance, and welcomes the decision not to re-broadcast it on BBC iPlayer.”
Bob Vylan, who were performing before an appearance by the pro-Palestinian Northern Irish rappers Kneecap, repeatedly shouted “death to the IDF” – a reference to the Israel Defence Forces. The chant was taken up by the crowd, many of whom were waving Palestinian flags.
Police later said they would be examining video footage of the comments.
The BBC broadcast the Bob Vylan set without edits or bleeps to cover any chants or lyrics that might be deemed offensive. The corporation later cut the live feed for the Kneecap set on The Other Stage, saying an edited version would be made available on demand later.
A BBC spokesman said: “Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive. During this livestream 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.”
As Bob Vylan chanted “Free! Free!”, the crowd responded “Palestine!”, before the duo repeatedly chanted: “Death! Death! To the IDF!”
The rapper also launched into a rant about a Jewish record company boss for whom he had worked, shouting: “Recently, a list was released of people trying to stop our mates Kneecap from performing here today. And who do I see on that f***ing list, but that bald-headed c*** I used to f***ing work for.’
“So look, we have done it all, from working in bars to working for f***ing Zionists.”
The scenes provoked outrage among viewers and supporters of Israel, who contrasted them with the massacre of Novara music festival-goers by Hamas gunmen during the October 7 attacks, when more than 1200 Jews were murdered across southern Israel and 251 hostages were seized.
Israel in the UK, the official account for the Israeli embassy in London, wrote in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that it was “deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival”.
It added: “Freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy. But when speech crosses into incitement, hatred, and advocacy of ethnic cleansing, it must be called out – especially when amplified by public figures on prominent platforms.
“Chants such as ‘Death to the IDF’ and ‘From the river to the sea’ are slogans that advocate for the dismantling of the State of Israel and implicitly call for the elimination of Jewish self-determination. When such messages are delivered before tens of thousands of festival-goers and met with applause, it raises serious concerns about the normalisation of extremist language and the glorification of violence.
“We call on Glastonbury Festival organisers, artists and public leaders in the UK to denounce this rhetoric and reject of all forms of hatred.”
The Labour Friends of Israel told the Telegraph in a statement: “At the Nova musical festival on Oct 7, 378 young Israelis were brutally massacred by the genocidal terrorists of Hamas.
“To watch chants at Glastonbury less than two years later calling for incitement to murder is simply disgusting. It shows that, for extremists in the anti-Israel movement, the goal isn’t peace but death and destruction.”
Danny Cohen, former director of BBC Television, said: “This chant was nothing less than incitement to violence against the world’s only Jewish state. That something like this might happen could easily have been foreseen by the BBC, and measures could have been taken to prevent its broadcast.
“Allowing it to be broadcast is a very serious failure, and further evidence that BBC management are blind to their responsibility to Britain’s Jewish community and all licence-fee payers.”
Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said: “This is grotesque. Glorifying violence against Jews isn’t edgy. The West is playing with fire if we allow this sort of behaviour to go unchecked. The cultural establishment needs to wake up to the fact this isn’t protest, it’s incitement.”
Stuart Andrew, the shadow Culture Secretary, said: “Questions must be asked whether the BBC considered implementing a slight delay in their live coverage to avoid broadcasting violent hate speech to millions of viewers.”
Harvey Goldsmith, a leading music promoter and the organiser of Live Aid, said: “I’m proud to have dedicated my life to Britain’s music industry and I’m now horrified to see it become a platform for open hate. The BBC must have known the views of Bob Vylan, and that there was a risk they would use this the stage in the way they did.
“I can’t help but suspect the BBC chose to allow this [to] happen given the furore over Kneecap. If the kind of invective they used had been directed against any other minority, World War III would have broken out. What’s happened is an utter disgrace for the BBC and for Glastonbury.”
Bob Vylan were followed by Kneecap, who led chants of “f*** Keir Starmer” and pro-Palestinian slogans.
They also threatened to start a riot outside the Westminster Magistrates’ Court, where band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, known as Mo Chara, is due to appear in August on a terror charge for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a concert.
Addressing the crowd, he said: “It’s not the first time there was a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British justice system. So if anybody’s available on the August 20 at Westminster, we’ll start up a riot outside the courts.”
He later added: “A disclaimer: no riots, just love and support, and support for Palestine.”
The Metropolitan Police has been approached for comment.
Avon and Somerset Police said it was examining video footage of the comments made by Kneecap and Bob Vylan.
In a statement, it said: “We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival. Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.”
Kneecap’s performance was not broadcast live by the BBC, which paused its coverage over fears the band would repeat previous political statements in support of the Palestinian cause and against Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
The band’s appearance has caused problems for the BBC, which had to decide whether it could broadcast their set and meet its obligations to impartiality and offensive language.
In a statement, the corporation defended its position, saying: “Whilst the BBC doesn’t ban artists, our plans ensure that our programming meets our editorial guidelines. We don’t always livestream 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.”
Politicians and music industry officials had petitioned Glastonbury to drop Kneecap. But festival organiser Emily Eavis defended the decision to proceed, saying: “There have been a lot of really heated topics this year, but we remain a platform for many, many artists from all over the world and, you know, everyone is welcome here.”
Other Glastonbury acts have voiced their support for Palestine, with British singer Nilufer Yanya performing with the words “Free, Free Palestine” shown on the screen behind her and a pro-Palestinian banner draped across the stage.
On Saturday night (local time), Gary Lineker, the former Match of the Day presenter who left the BBC last month over an anti-Semitism row, was interviewed on a separate stage.
Lineker said the corporation had “lost their way a little bit”, adding: “There are thousands of brilliant people at the BBC but at the moment I don’t think that’s reflected right at the very top. I feel for Tim Davie, the director-general, because I believe there are people above him that have an agenda.”
The presenter left the BBC after he used Instagram to promote a pro-Palestinian video featuring a rat emoji – an icon used by the Nazis as a slur against Jewish people. He apologised and removed the post. but left after mounting calls for him to be sacked.
Lineker defended his use of his social media platform to talk about “beliefs that you believe to be right”, including the conflict in Gaza. He said: “I’ve been traumatised by the images of children in Gaza. I want to give a voice to people who have not got one.”
He also quipped that he would have liked to have seen Kneecap, but that their performance had clashed with his interview. However, he echoed their sentiments, saying: “Free Palestine.”
Debate began after a narrow 51-49 Senate vote, with Vice-President JD Vance involved.