Bob Vylan was removed from the French Festival following his controversial performance at Glastonbury
Bob Vylan was removed from Kave Fest following the political response from the Glastonbury chanting of “death to the IDF.”
After receiving criticism for comments they made during their previous visit at Glastonbury Festival, UK punk-rap duo Bob Vylan was kicked from the lineup of performances at the French music festival Kave Fest.
On Sunday, July 6, the ensemble was supposed to play at the event in Gisors, which is north of Paris. On Wednesday, though, festival organizers told the BBC that the act had been removed. Later, the organizers are expected to release a statement outlining the decision.
Bob Vylan’s performance on the West Holts stage at Glastonbury on Saturday, where the vocalist led cries of “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces],” is the source of the issue. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called the performance “appalling hate speech,” and it was widely denounced by UK politicians of all stripes.
Bob Vylan defended their comments in a message posted on Instagram on Tuesday in reaction to the criticism. “We oppose the murder of Jews, Arabs, or any other racial or ethnic group,” they stated. “We support dismantling a violent military apparatus.”
In addition, the band implied that they were being “targeted for speaking up,” saying that the media’s emphasis on them was a “distraction from the story” and that any penalties they were given would divert attention away from the more significant concerns they were bringing up.
The BBC was also heavily criticized for using iPlayer to livestream the event. Sir Ephraim Mirvis, the Chief Rabbi, denounced the show as “the airing of vile Jew-hate at Glastonbury.” Since then, the broadcaster has acknowledged that it was wrong to permit the stream to continue.
“The team was dealing with a live situation, but in hindsight, we should have pulled the stream during the performance,” the BBC stated in a statement. We sorry that this did not occur.
Adding to the mounting worry, broadcast regulator Ofcom stated that it was “extremely concerned” about the broadcast and that “the BBC obviously has questions to answer.”
The decision to remove Bob Vylan from Kave Fest’s lineup is anticipated to be further clarified in the event’s next announcement.
