Bob Vylan suing BBC over Glastonbury ‘offensive and deplorable’ comments
Gabriella Swerling
British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan have announced they will be taking legal action against the BBC following controversy surrounding their show at Glastonbury last summer.
The band performed at the festival last June with singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, and chanted “death, death to the Israeli Armed Forces” to the crowd. [Israel Defense Forces].”
The BBC, which was criticized for broadcasting the performance live, issued a statement shortly afterwards saying the duo’s show had been deemed appropriate to be broadcast live, but added that this was “absolutely not the case”.
An apology was also issued for the band’s “offensive and deplorable behavior.”
On Friday, Bob Vylan, a performing partner of drummer Wade Laurence George, wrote on Instagram that they were taking legal action against the company, accusing it of “putting labels on us that don’t fit, don’t fit, and never will.”
The following statements were included in the post: “As a company that receives a large portion of its finance from the public, [the BBC] “It has continued to disappointingly prove how little it represents the public’s interests and our access to unbiased news and information.”
The duo also stated that they “had no choice but to take on this fight”, concluding: “Free Palestine and justice for the Filton 25.”
Filton 25 refers to a group of pro-Palestinian activists who were arrested and imprisoned following direct action at the Elbit Systems arms factory in Filton, near Bristol, in 2024.
Bob Vylan’s announcement comes after Jewish leader Sir Ephraim Mirvis last week called for the slogan “Death to the IDF” to be criminalised.
At the Religion Media Festival in Westminster, Chief Rabbi Mirvis of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth said Britain should change legislation to stop the chanting.
Avon and Somerset Police took no action regarding the Glastonbury incident because it “did not meet the criminal threshold” for investigation.
In October, Robinson-Foster said on the Louis Theroux Podcast that he had “no regrets” about the chant and that he would “do it again tomorrow.”
A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Bob Vylan should thank the BBC for broadcasting his hateful criticism to the nation. Other channels may have been disgusted by what they heard, but it was not the BBC that failed to cut the broadcast.”
“Instead of being grateful for the unrivaled platform that screams ‘Working for the Zionists’ and chanting ‘Death to the IDF’ for violence and destruction, the duo now want to sue the broadcaster that made them famous.
“Perhaps Bob Vylan has realized that it is not their music but their provocative politics that appeal to a mass audience, and this stunt is a desperate attempt to get back into the newspapers.”
The BBC declined to comment.
Telegraph, London
