Organizers of the Glastonbury Festival said Sunday they are “appalled” by the onstage statements of the punk duo Bob Vylan, whose singer led the crowd in a series of chants including “Death, death to the IDF” and “Free Palestine” the day before.
“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 antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence,” read the statement from the festival and organizer Emily Eavis posted on Instagram.
Immediately after the Saturday performance, Irish trio Kneecap had its set cut from the BBC’s live coverage of the festival after the group began chanting “F–k Keir Starmer,” a reference to the British Prime Minister, during their set.
Singer Bobby Vylan led the crowd in various chants, including “From the river to the sea, Palestine must be free” and “Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defense Forces].” The entire performance was broadcast live on BBC, though the network also condemned the comments as “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,” the statement reads. “We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.”
“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 Glastonbury Festival’s official Instagram account shared on Sunday. “However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday.”
Local police on Saturday said they were investigating the comments by both groups to determine whether any would warrant criminal charges in Britain, which doesn’t have the same free-speech protections as the United States.
Jim Berk, CEO of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, also condemned the statements from both groups, calling the scene “sickening, dangerous, and chillingly reminiscent of a modern-day Nazi rally.”
“When Bob Vylan chanted ‘Death, death to the IDF’ and Kneecap urged fans to ‘start a riot’ outside a court where one of their members faces terrorism-related charges, it was public incitement, not performance,” Berk said. “The explicit calls for violence against Jews, broadcast live by the BBC without interruption, literally gave hate a stage, a microphone, and the stamp of legitimacy of one of Britain’s most respected public institutions.”
Berk called on the festival to anticipate “calculated [acts] of hate speech,” characterizing its response as “bland” and “cowardice.”
“If festival organizers and broadcasters can’t (or won’t) foresee violent speech against Jews, the Glastonbury concert-goers certainly could: horrifically, the crowd of thousands was primed to join in call and response to Bob Vylan’s hateful chant,” Berk wrote. “And Glastonbury’s bland response? Saying the chants merely ‘crossed a line’ and offering vague ‘reminders’ to artists is not accountability — it’s cowardice. When confronted with explicit calls for violence against Jews, anything short of absolute condemnation and corrective action is complicity.”
The festival’s full statement is below:
Glastonbury Festival was created in 1970 as a place for people to come together and rejoice in music, the arts and the best of human endeavour. As a festival, we stand against all forms of war and terrorism. 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.
However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday. 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 antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.
