Bobby Vylan has revealed he’s not regretful over his chant at Glastonbury Festival, which saw him say to the crowd, ‘death, death to the IDF’ earlier this year
Bobby Vylan is “not regretful” over his chant at Glastonbury Festival. Reflecting on the controversy, which caused a storm during the BBC coverage, the Bob Vylan frontman said he would “do it again tomorrow.”
While performing at the festival earlier this year, the punk duo led the crowd in a chant in between songs. Frontman Bobby said: “Alright, but have you heard this one, though? Death, death to the IDf.” Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis said she was “appalled” by the remarks.
The BBC swiftly removed the performance from iPlayer and apologised for the “deeply offensive” content. But in a new interview, the frontman, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, said he would do it all again.
Speaking to Louis Theroux on the documentary-maker’s podcast, he said: “Oh yeah.”Like what if I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes, I would do it again. I’m not regretful of it. I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays. I’m not regretful of it at all, like the subsequent backlash that I’ve faced. It’s minimal.”
The musician added: “It’s minimal compared to what people in Palestine are going through. If that can be my contribution and if I can have my Palestinian friends and people that I meet from Palestine, that have had to flee, that have lost members in double digits of their family and they can say, yo, your chant, I love it. Or it gave me a breath of fresh air or whatever.
“And I don’t want to overstate the importance of the chant. That’s not what I’m trying to do, but if I have their support, they’re the people that I’m doing it for, they’re the people that I’m being vocal for, then what is there to regret. Oh, because I’ve upset some right-wing politician or some right-wing media?”
The episode of Louis’ podcast was recorded on October 1, with the broadcaster noting that it took place just one day before the tragic Manchester synagogue attack, during which two people were killed and three were injured. It was also recorded nine days before the ceasefire in Gaza commenced on October 10.
Robinson-Foster revealed he was taken aback by the fury that was sparked by his chant. Prime Minsiter, Kier Starmer, said it was “appalling hate speech”. But the musician claims staff at the BBC told him the set was “fantastic”.
The Executive Complaints Unit of the BBC has since found the broadcast breached editorial standards in relation to harm and offence. Robinson-Foster said: “I had no expectations. I honestly hadn’t heard it (the reaction). I hadn’t seen it. Because obviously there was a lot happening at the time. Do you know what I mean?
“It wasn’t like we came off stage, and everybody was like (gasps). It’s just normal. We come off stage. It’s normal. Nobody thought anything. Nobody. Even staff at the BBC were like ‘That was fantastic! We loved that!'” He also lashed out at Blur icon Damon Albarn who said that the chant was “one of the most spectacular misfires I’ve seen in my life, especially when he started goose-stepping in tennis gear”.
He said of Albarn: “It was disappointing. Because it lacked self-awareness, I think, his response. I just want to say that categorising it as a ‘spectacular misfire’ implies that somehow the politics of the band or our stance on Palestinian liberation is not thought out.
“And as a more senior, experienced, veteran artist – he’s been in this industry for a long time – I think that there were other ways that he could have handled that question being fielded to him. I take great issue with the phrase ‘goose-stepping’ being used because it’s only used around Nazi Germany. That’s it. And for him to use that language, I think is disgusting. I think his response was disgusting.”
Avon and Somerset Police confirmed in the weeks after Bob Vylan’s set that it was still being investigated. After their set, the force said: “Video footage and audio from Bob Vylan and Kneecap’s performances at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday has been reviewed.
“Following the completion of that assessment process, we have decided further enquiries are required and a criminal investigation is now being undertaken. A senior detective has been appointed to lead this investigation.
“This has been recorded as a public order incident at this time while our enquiries are at an early stage. The investigation will be evidence-led and will closely consider all appropriate legislation, including relating to hate crimes.”
The Louis Theroux Podcast is available on Spotify now.
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