Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie has called Madonna a "total prostitute" for agreeing to perform at this year's Eurovision, which takes place in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Israel won the honour of hosting Eurovision after its contestant Netta won last year’s contest. Multiple artists, including Roger Waters and Peter Gabriel, have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of the event, and for the BBC to cancel its coverage of the competition.
Speaking to Newsnight,, Gillespie said that the state sits on "stolen land" and claimed Madonna is performing because she is desperate for money and publicity. The frontman added that he is not anti-Semitic and that all of his heroes are Jewish.
Gillespie said: "Madonna would do anything for money, you know, she's a total prostitute. And I've got nothing against prostitutes. The whole thing is set up to normalise the state of Israel, and its disgraceful treatment of the Palestinian people.
"By going to perform in Israel what you do is you normalise that. Primal Scream would never perform in Israel. I think Madonna is just desperate for publicity, desperate for the money. They pay very, very well."
Asked whether he understood his comments being seen as anti-Semitic, Gillespie said: "I'm not anti-Semitic at all. All my heroes are Jews. Karl Marx, Bob Dylan, The Marx Brothers."
The Eurovision final takes place tonight (18 May). Follow along with all The Independent's coverage here.
Representatives of Madonna have been contacted for comment.
