Rapper Bobby Vylan doubled down on his decision to chant “death, death, death to the IDF” at the Glastonbury Festival this summer, noting he’d “do it again tomorrow” if given the opportunity.
Vylan, who is one half of the English punk rap duo Bob Vylan (his musical partner goes by Bobbie Vylan), opened up about the controversial festival appearance and the subsequent backlash during an appearance on “The Louis Theroux Podcast.”
“If I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes, I would do it again,” Vylan noted. “I’m not regretful of it. I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays. I’m not regretful of it at all.”
He added, “The subsequent backlash that I’ve faced. It’s minimal. It’s minimal compared to what people in Palestine are going through … What is there to regret? Oh, because I’ve upset some right-wing politician or some right-wing media?”
This marks Vylan’s first interview since sparking controversy with his comments at Glastonbury, which saw the band publicly condemned by festival organizers, their visas revoked by the U.S. State Department and their agency, UTA, dropping them in the aftermath.
Yet, Vylan made it clear he didn’t agree with the response to his onstage declaration, telling host Theroux he felt it was “so disproportionate” to the real issue at hand at the time — the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
“My whole issue with this thing is that the chant is so unimportant,” he went on. “What is important is the conditions that exist to allow that chant to even take place on that stage. And I mean, the conditions that exist in Palestine. Where the Palestinian people are being killed at an alarming rate. Who cares about the chant?”
Still, Vylan said the repercussions for his actions were swift, confirming UTA dropped Bob Vylan the very next day.
Per Vylan, the decision came from “the most senior members of the company,” adding their agent “didn’t have any choice.”
He then lambasted the U.S. State Department over the visa decision, alleging it was purely a “scare tactic” to make them “persona non grata.”
As for the accusations of anti-Semitism that he faced after calling for the death of Israel Defense Forces, Vylan didn’t think that was a fair assessment of the situation.
“I don’t think I have created an unsafe atmosphere for the Jewish community,” he noted. “If there were large numbers of people going out and going like ‘Bob Vylan made me do this,’ I might go, oof, I’ve had a negative impact here.”
For the record, Vylan’s episode was recorded on Oct. 1, a day before the Manchester synagogue attacks and days before the cease-fire deal was struck.
The band previously released a statement on social media following the controversy, where they noted they’re “not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people.”
“We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine,” the duo continued. “A machine whose own soldiers were told to use ‘unnecessary lethal force’ against innocent civilians waiting for aid. A machine that has destroyed much of Gaza.”
New episodes of “The Louis Theroux Podcast” drop Tuesdays on Spotify.
