French town pulls funding for festival over KNEECAP booking

The local government of Saint-Cloud, host town of the Rock-en-Seine festival, has announced in a statement released last night that it has withdrawn a €40,000 subsidy for the event due to its booking of KNEECAP.

The statement, signed by Saint-Cloud Mayor Eric Berdoati, said the grant was issued before the final lineup was made public. When the city learned of KNEECAP's presence, Berdoati said they reevaluated their funding due to the controversy surrounding the band.

"The City of Saint-Cloud finances, to the best of its ability, a cultural and artistic project," the statement reads (translated from French).

"However, it does not finance political action or demands, and even less so incitement of violence, such as calls to kill parliamentarians, whatever their nationality."

Berdoati wrote that the City respects Rock-en-Seine's "freedom of programming" and that they "did not wish to engage in any negotiations with the aim of influencing the programming."

As opposed to negotiating with festival organisers, Berdoati said, the City Council chose instead to withdraw the entirety of the funding during its July 3 meeting.

KNEECAP has recently drawn criticism for their outspoken activism and stance on Israel's occupation of Gaza. The band previously faced terrorism charges for allegedly saying "kill your MP" at a 2023 concert, which have since been dropped.

Member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, aka Mo Chara, was individually charged for reportedly holding a Hezbollah flag at a concert. Ó hAnnaidh was released on unconditional bail and is due in court on August 20.

The group argued that the charges are politically motivated for their criticism of Israel's occupation of Gaza and of British presence in Ireland.

The news comes after a handful of previous controversies involving KNEECAP's presence at festivals. They faced backlash for their Coachella performance in April and a criminal investigation was launched into their June Glastonbury performance. They were dropped from the lineup of Glasgow's TRNSMT, held last week, due to safety concerns from local police.

Nevertheless, KNEECAP is set to play the Main Stage at Electric Picnic from August 29-31, followed by a tour of England, Scotland and Wales in what they called their "biggest run of shows ever" in November.

At the time of writing, there is no indication that they will be removed from the Rock-en-Seine lineup and the festival has not commented publicly. They are set to perform on August 24.