Bob Vylan share statement following Glastonbury set: "I said what I said"

Bobby Vylan, who is one half of punk rap duo Bob Vylan, has shared a statement following their Glastonbury set, when the group led a chant of “death, death to the IDF,” in reference to the Israel Defense Forces.

The statement follows a response from the UK prime minister Keir Starmer, who condemned the duo’s set by calling it "appalling hate speech.” He added that the BBC had questions to answer over its live broadcast of the group's performance on Saturday.

The live show was broadcast live on the BBC but has since been removed from its streaming services. A BBC spokesperson previously said some of Bob Vylan’s comments were “deeply offensive”.

"I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform,” Starmer said, referencing a previous statement, “and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence."

Glastonbury organisers also commented on the duo’s festival appearance, saying that they were “appalled”, adding that “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.”

They added that Bob Vylan’s 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.”

Bobby Vylan, frontman of the punk rap duo, has now shared a statement saying that he had been “inundated” with a mixture of “support and hatred”.

 

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Captioned “I said what I said”, the statement reads: “As I lay in bed this morning, my phone buzzing non stop, inundated with messages of both support and hatred, l listen to my daughter typing out loud as she fills out a school survey asking for her feedback on the current state of her school dinners.

“She expressed that she would like healthier meals, more options and dishes inspired by other parts of the world. Listening to her voice her opinions on a matter that she cares about and affects her daily, reminds me that we may not be doomed after all.”

“Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place,” he continued, “As we grow older and our fire possibly starts to dim under the suffocation of adult life and all its responsibilities, it is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us.

“Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change. Let them see us marching in the streets, campaigning on ground level, organising online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered.”

“Today it is a change in school dinners,” he concluded, “tomorrow it is a change in foreign policy.”

Following the statement, fellow punk band Amyl and The Sniffers expressed their support for Bob Vylan and Belfast rap trio Kneecap, writing that the “British media was in a frenzy" about both artists.

“Artists all weekend at Glastonbury, from pop to rock to punk to rap to DJs spoke up on stage and there were tonnes of flags on every streamed set,” the group continued.

“Trying to make it look like a couple of isolated incidents and a couple of ‘bad bands’ so that it appears the public isn’t as anti-genocide as it is, and trying to make it look like Bob and Kneecap are one offs, instead of that the status quo has shifted majorly and that people are concerned and desperate for our governments to listen.

“And if you don’t want politics in music,” they concluded, "don't blame the musician, blame the politicians and journalists, and the political landscape in general, for not doing their job, there'll just be more and more of it until it stops.”

The US government has also threatened to ban the band from travelling to America, with the US state department “already looking at revoking” the group’s visa ahead of its twenty-city tour through the country, a senior official told the Daily Wire.

“As a reminder, under the Trump administration, the US government will not issue visas to any foreigner who supports terrorists,” the senior official said.