GLASTONBURY Festival organisers said they are “appalled” at Bob Vylan’s comments and that chants about the Israeli military “very much crossed a line”.
The festival organisers' comments come after police said they are assessing videos from the band's performance on Saturday, along with Irish trio Kneecap’s set.
Rapper Bobby Vylan, one half of the rap punk duo Bob Vylan, led crowds on the festival’s West Holts Stage in chants of “death, death to the IDF” along with “free, free Palestine”.
Responding to comments made by Bob Vylan on Saturday, Glastonbury Festival released a statement in a post on Instagram.
It read: “With almost 4000 performances at Glastonbury 2025, there will inevitably be artists and speakers appearing on our stages whose views we do not share, and a performer's presence here should never be seen as a tacit endorsement of their opinions and beliefs.
“However, we are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday.
“Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”
The statement came after Avon and Somerset Police said they were assessing videos of comments made by Bob Vylan and Kneecap to determine whether any offences may have been committed.
They added: “We strongly condemn the threatening comments made by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury.
“The Culture Secretary has spoken to the BBC Director General to seek an urgent explanation about what due diligence it carried out ahead of the Bob Vylan performance, and welcomes the decision not to re-broadcast it on BBC iPlayer.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive. During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.”
