AN audience member on BBC Scotland’s Debate Night has been praised by Kneecap after they intervened in a row calling for the band to be removed from TRNSMT.
The man in the Glasgow audience for the BBC broadcast on Wednesday said the rap trio should not be banned from the Glasgow-based music festival, and the recent row has been "indictive of a smear campaign" to distract from the genocide in Gaza.
The band reshared a clip of the comments, writing: "Hats off to this legend in Scotland and the audience too".
It comes after First Minister John Swinney said organisers should “consider” if Kneecap should perform at this year’s event after video emerged of one of its members calling for the death of Tory MPs.
The Irish group are due to headline the King Tut’s stage at TRNSMT in July, but have faced criticism across the political spectrum since the comments came to light.
A video of the band at a 2023 gig appeared to show one member saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
The audience member said: "The whole situation's indicative of a smear campaign against the group.
"These comments were made years ago, and it's all to distract from the statement that they made in the first place that the United States are funding military action that's resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of children in Gaza.
“And that's what we should be speaking about."
His comments were greeted with applause, as presenter Stephen Jardine clarified with the man whether he believed the comments were made "in the way they have been picked up".
He added: "I believe the comments are wrong, and I believe that the band have apologised for them.
"We've spoke about that already, but I think that the debate around that is a distraction from the real issue at hand that I've just discussed."
A second audience member went on to highlight the lack of debate around those who "issue songs that are openly misogynistic " and those artists who are "never cancelled, never banned".
The woman added: "While I think their comments were wrong, I've got some sympathy with seeing daft things and daft places. I do think there should be consequences.
"I think they should be able to come back from it sometime."
The First Minister’s condemnation follows on from that of the Prime Minister and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.
Badenoch led calls for the band to receive an outright ban, as the Met Police have confirmed the investigation that is underway.
Counter-terrorism police will investigate online videos, the force said on Thursday morning.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “On April 22, we were made aware of an online video believed to be from a music event in London in November 2024. Following this, we were made aware of a further video, believed to be from another music event in London in November 2023.
“Both videos were referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit for assessment by specialist officers, who have determined there are grounds for further investigation into potential offences linked to both videos.
“The investigation is now being carried out by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command and inquiries remain ongoing at this time.”
