BBC says it should have pulled Bob Vylan's Glastonbury stream over 'antisemitic' chants

Sylvia Hui · The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 30, 2025 10:45 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

The BBC said Monday it should person pulled a livestream of rap duo Bob Vylan's show astatine the Glastonbury  Festival, which saw the radical starring crowds of euphony fans successful chants calling for "death" to the Israeli military.

The British broadcaster called the chants "antisemitic" and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said determination was nary excuse for specified "appalling hatred speech."

The BBC has travel nether dense disapproval for broadcasting the rap punk duo's show Saturday, erstwhile rapper Bobby Vylan led crowds attending the U.K.'s largest summertime euphony festival successful chants of "free, escaped Palestine" and "death, decease to the IDF," the Israel Defence Forces.

The BBC said Monday that it "respects state of look but stands firmly against incitement to violence."

"The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and person nary spot connected our airwaves," it said.

Starmer said the BBC indispensable explicate "how these scenes came to beryllium broadcast."

Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, said it was "very concerned" astir the BBC livestream and said the broadcaster "clearly has questions to answer."

The BBC said earlier successful its defence that it had issued a informing connected surface astir "very beardown and discriminatory language" during the livestream.

The Israeli Embassy to the U.K. said implicit the play it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed connected signifier astatine the Glastonbury Festival."

Bob Vylan, which formed successful 2017, person released 4 albums mixing punk, grime and different styles with lyrics that often code issues including racism, masculinity and politics. Its 2 members some support their existent names concealed for privateness reasons and spell by the signifier names Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan.

In a connection posted connected societal media, vocalist Bobby Vylan said helium was inundated with messages of some enactment and hatred. 

"Teaching our children to talk up for the alteration they privation and request is the lone mode that we marque this satellite a amended place," helium wrote. 

Police said they were alert of comments made by acts astatine the festival and officers volition reappraisal video grounds to find if immoderate offences person been committed.

The duo played Saturday day close earlier Irish-language rap radical Kneecap, different set that has drawn contention implicit its stance connected Middle East politics.

One of its members was charged nether the Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed enactment aft helium allegedly waved a Hezbollah emblem astatine a concert.

Kneecap led a immense assemblage successful chants of "Free Palestine" astatine the festival.

The acts were among among 4,000 that performed successful beforehand of immoderate 200,000 euphony fans this twelvemonth astatine the Glastonbury Festival successful southwest England. 

Israel has faced dense planetary disapproval for its warfare behaviour successful Gaza. In May, the U.K., France and Canada issued a sharply worded connection calling for Israel to halt its "egregious" subject actions successful Gaza and criticizing Israel's actions successful the occupied West Bank.

The warfare has inflamed tensions astir the world, triggering pro-Palestinian protests successful galore capitals and assemblage campuses. Israel and its supporters accidental the protests are antisemitic, portion critics accidental Israel uses specified descriptions to soundlessness opponents.

More than 6,000 radical person been killed and much than 20,000 injured successful Gaza since a ceasefire betwixt Israel and Hamas collapsed successful March. Since the warfare began successful October 2023 with a Hamas onslaught that killed 1,200 Israelis and took different 251 hostage, Israeli attacks person killed much than 56,000 radical and injured 132,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. 

It doesn't separate betwixt civilians and combatants, but it has said that women and children marque up much than fractional the 56,000 dead. Israel says it lone targets militants and blames civilian deaths connected Hamas, accusing the militants of hiding among civilians, due to the fact that they run successful populated areas.