BBC boss Tim Davie is facing growing scrutiny after it emerged he was at Glastonbury when Bob Vylan chanted “death, death to the IDF” —and did not pull the livestream.
The broadcaster’s director general was consulted over what to do about the performance, which has since been condemned by festival organisers, MPs and the Prime Minister.
After being made aware of the performance by Bob Vylan frontman Bobby Vylan who led crowds in a chant of “death, death to the IDF” (Israel Defence Forces), Davie said the performance should not be made available on demand.
However, the livestream containing the chanting remained available on iPlayer for another five hours.
Sources stressed that pulling the livestream was not discussed, but a spokesperson acknowledged that, in hindsight, the BBC regrets not taking it down.
A BBC source told the Telegraph: “Tim was there for a few hours to see the team. He was made aware during the time he was there of what had been said on stage.
“He intervened to make sure the performance was not made available on demand and he was very clear about that.
“Pulling the livestream brings certain technological challenges. With hindsight, we would have taken it down.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy suggested that the incident called Davie’s position into question.
Speaking in the Commons, she said: “When you have one editorial failure, it’s something that must be gripped. When you have several, it becomes a problem of leadership.”
It came as police launched a criminal investigation into the performances of Bob Vylan and Kneecap.
Bob Vylan had their US visas revoked before their tour later this year and were dropped by their agency.
Kneecap, the Belfast trio, urged festivalgoers to “start a riot outside the courts” in reference to band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh who will appear in court in August charged with a terror offence after allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert.
In a politically charged performance, the trio also led chants of “F*** Keir Starmer” after the prime minister said it was “not appropriate” for the group to play at the festival.
Naoise Ó Cairealláin later added: “I have to make a disclaimer when we go to support … at the court case, I don’t want anybody to start a riot.”
The BBC issued a statement on Monday as it came under spiralling pressure over its decision to continue broadcasting the rap dup’s show after rapper Bobby Vylan on Saturday led crowds on the festival's West Holts Stage in chants of “Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)”.
The statement read: “Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC's output but one performance within our live streams included comments that were deeply offensive.
“The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence.
“The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury's condemnation of the performance.
“The performance was part of a live stream of the West Holts stage on BBC iPlayer. The judgement on Saturday to issue a warning on screen while streaming online was in line with our editorial guidelines.
“In addition, we took the decision not to make the performance available on demand. The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen.
“In light of this weekend, we will look at our guidance around live events so we can be sure teams are clear on when it is acceptable to keep output on air.”
