Glastonbury bosses “appalled” by Bob Vylan’s ‘death to IDF’ chant at festival
"Their chants very much crossed a line", said Glastonbury bosses.
By Nick Reilly
Glastonbury bosses have said they are “appalled” by comments made by rap duo Bob Vylan during their performance at the festival yesterday.
Rapper Bobby Vylan of the group led crowds on the West Holts Stage in chants of “Free, free Palestine” and: “Death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence League]”.
Responding in a statement shared to social media and by festival boss Emily Eavis, organisers said they were “appalled” by the comments.
“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,” a statement read.
“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.”
A similar statement was issued by the BBC as they confirmed that the set will not be available to watch on demand.
“Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive,” they said. “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.”
Police are also assessing the footage of their set to see if any offences have been committed, while The Independent reports that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has spoken to BBC Director General Tim Davie “to seek an urgent explanation about what due diligence it carried out ahead of the Bob Vylan performance”.
Bob Vylan were performing shortly before Kneecap, who delivered one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend. The festival had faced pressure from figures including Keir Starmer to cancel the performance after the band’s Liam O hAnnaidh was charged with a terror offence after it was alleged that he unfurled a Hezbollah flag and said “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town late last year.
Bob Vylan are comment to respond to Glastonbury’s comments.