Punk duo frontman Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "without regret" about his "death, death to the IDF" act at the festival and asserted he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
This outspoken punk duo ignited significant debate when they initiated crowd chants of "death, death to the IDF," referring to the IDF, during their June performance. This chant was censured by Glastonbury and Britain's leader Keir Starmer, who described it as "appalling hate speech."
Following the event, the band was released by its representation UTA, and the US government revoked the members' travel documents, compelling them to call off a planned North American tour.
In his first interview after the festival performance, the musician, using his birth name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, spoke on The Louis Theroux Podcast. When asked if he would do it all again, he replied:
"Oh yeah. Like what if I was to perform at the festival again tomorrow, yes I would do it again. I'm not regretful of it. I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
He noted that the criticism the duo faced was "small compared to what people in Palestine are experiencing."
"I aim not to overstate the importance of the chant," he elaborated. "That's not what I'm attempting to do, but if I have the Palestinian people's support, they're the individuals that I'm doing it for, these are the people that I'm speaking up for, then what is there to regret? Oh, because I've angered some conservative politician or some rightwing news outlet?"
This musician said he was taken aback by the outcry sparked by the exclamation, and asserted that staff of BBC staff at Glastonbury told him on the day that the set was "excellent."
However, the broadcaster's executive complaints unit later determined that the network's broadcast of the performance breached editorial guidelines in relation to offense and hurt.
He informed Theroux there was no sign of a controversy in the moment: "It wasn't like we came off stage, and everyone was like [shocked]. It felt normal. We leave stage. It's normal. No one thought anything. Not a soul. Even staff at the BBC were like 'It was fantastic! We enjoyed that!'"
The musician also hit back at Damon Albarn, who called the chant "a major misstep I've seen in my life" and characterized Vylan as "marching in tennis gear."
His comment was "disappointing" and "showed no self-awareness," Vylan said.
"I need to say that labeling it as a 'spectacular misfire' suggests that somehow the views of the band or our position on Palestinian liberation is unplanned," he explained.
"I strongly object with the phrase 'marching' being used because it's typically associated around the Nazis," he continued. "That's it. And for him to use that wording, I think is offensive. I think his answer was disgusting."
When questioned what he meant by the phrase "Death to the IDF," the artist said the chant itself was "unimportant."
"The key issue is the situation that persist to permit that protest to even take place on that platform. And I mean, the conditions that are present in Palestine. Where the local people are being killed at an alarming rate. What matters about the slogan?" he stated.
"The phrase rhymes," he noted: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have spread, would it? … We are there to entertain. We are there to play music. I am a lyricist. 'Death, Death to IDF' rhymes. Ideal slogan."
The musician also rejected claims from the CST, a watchdog and Jewish safety group, that their set contributed to a rise in antisemitic events recorded later.
"I don't think I have caused an hostile atmosphere for the Jewish community. Suppose there were many individuals of people acting and going like 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I might go, oh, I've had a negative impact here," he commented.
When Vylan mentioned he felt the duo had been criticised more heavily than different artists for speaking about the conflict, the host brought up the Ireland-based band Kneecap, who have likewise faced backlash for their approach to pro-Palestinian messaging.
"That's a notable point," Vylan said, "because as with everything ethnicity comes to play a factor in that we are an easier target, no pun intended, than others are because we are inherently the enemy."
