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Bob Vylan hit back at "scare tactic" of British Airways dropping sponsorship of Louis Theroux podcast
Music

Bob Vylan hit back at “scare tactic” of British Airways dropping sponsorship of Louis Theroux podcast

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Bob Vylan frontman Bobby Vylan has hit back at British Airways after it pulled its Louis Theroux podcast sponsorship.

At this year’s Glastonbury Festival, the punk duo delivered a controversial performance on the West Holts Stage, using their platform to voice their support for the people of Palestine, call out the Israeli military and criticise the BBC, as well as the UK and US governments.

In the most provocative moment of the set, Vylan told the huge crowd, “have you heard this one?”, before leading a chant of “death, death to the IDF”. It led to a criminal investigation from Avon and Somerset Police, as well as the cancellation of multiple international shows and the revocation of their US visas.

Earlier this week, he gave his first in-depth interview on the subject on The Louis Theroux Podcast, in which he said he was “not regretful” of his remarks at Glasto, adding: “I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays. I’m not regretful of it at all.”

This has since led to British Airways withdrawing its adverts from the podcast, saying that the content breached its sponsorship policy.

Taking to X, earlier today (October 26) Vylan hit back at the move, writing: “Make no mistake, this is a scare tactic. I went on the podcast and as hard as the lobby groups and media tried, they couldn’t twist anything I said. So they have resorted to lobbying for Louis’ sponsorship to be pulled in an attempt to scare others out of giving me a platform.”

In a follow up tweet, he wrote: “They thought they were going to get a dumb angry punk ranting. Instead they got articulate and considered responses to each question with facts to back it up when needed. Their hope to further vilify me couldn’t run, so they target Louis to make an example for sitting with me.

“The lobby groups, the British government and media are determined to make an example of me, all because I dare to want an end to a genocidal occupying force guilty of war crimes.”

Upon removing the sponsorship, a spokesperson for BA said via The Guardian: “Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed.”

“We’re grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy in relation to politically sensitive or controversial subject matters,” the statement continued.

“We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don’t occur and we’re investigating how this happened.”

NME has contacted BA for a response on Bobby Vylan’s latest comments.

In the podcast with Theroux, Vylan said the backlash he had faced was “minimal”, adding: “It’s minimal compared to what people in Palestine are going through. If that can be my contribution and if I can have my Palestinian friends and people that I meet from Palestine that have had to flee, that have lost members in double digits of their family and they can say: ‘Yo, your chant, I love it.’ Or it gave me a breath of fresh air or whatever.”

He also said that he did not want to overstate the importance of the chant. “That’s not what I’m trying to do, but if I have their support, they’re the people that I’m doing it for, they’re the people that I’m being vocal for, then what is there to regret? Oh, because I’ve upset some rightwing politician or some rightwing media?”

Earlier this week, the duo rescheduled their headline shows in Manchester and Leeds “due to political pressure” from MPs and Jewish leaders.

The gigs were originally set to be the first two stops on the London punk-rap duo’s 2025 ‘We Won’t Go Quietly’ UK and Ireland tour. They had been scheduled to perform at Leeds’ O2 Academy on November 4, before heading to Manchester Academy the following night (5).

The duo also recently released their new single, ‘Sick Sad World’, where they called out Prime Minister Keir Starmer and “the BBC’s lies“.

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Bob Vylan call out Keir Starmer and “BBC's lies" on defiant new single 'Sick Sad World'
Music

Bob Vylan call out Keir Starmer and “BBC’s lies” on defiant new single ‘Sick Sad World’

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Bob Vylan have released a first new single, ‘Sick Sad World’, taking aim at Keir Starmer and the “BBC’s lies”.

  • READ MORE: Bob Vylan: “We’ve been screaming about these topics at the top of our lungs for years. Why has it taken this long?”

The track is the duo’s first release since last year’s album ‘Humble As The Sun’, but it’s also the first song they’ve put out since their controversial Glastonbury 2025 performance, in which vocalist Bobby Vylan lead the crowd in chants of “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]”.

The upbeat punk track sees the duo zero in on the state of the nation in 2025. “Keir’s smiling on the news, as if everything is fine/There’s a major malfunction, how’s this whole thing wired?/I got some priors on my name, they said I can’t get hired/I watch the BBC’s liеs, think I’m losing my mind/Hooray, it’s 2025, get a job in the mines,” Vylan raps.

“As many of you are aware, we have been busy recently but we never forgot about the music,” the band wrote on Instagram. “You can support Bob Vylan directly by purchasing the track on Bandcamp (link in bio). Enjoy, and much love, The Bobs. And don’t forget, tour starts in 3 weeks.”

Check out ‘Sick Sad World’ below:

In response to the Glastonbury controversy, the band clarified that they are “not for the death of Jews or Arabs or any other race or group”. In a statement, Glastonbury organisers said they were “appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan”.

As well as being dropped by their agency, Bob Vylan have had their US visas revoked and are currently under criminal investigation over the performance. They were also removed from their headline spot at Manchester’s Radar Festival in July after pressure from venue owners AMG and Live Nation and more bands dropped out in solidarity.

In other Bob Vylan news, an upcoming gig in the Netherlands was cancelled earlier this month after frontman Bobby Vylan was accused of celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

The band are set to head out on tour soon – check out the full list of dates here, and get tickets here. However, following the  the Manchester synagogue attack last week, MPs and Jewish groups have called for their show at Manchester Academy to be cancelled.

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Bob Vylan Netherlands Show Canceled Over Israel, Charlie Kirk Comments
Music

Bob Vylan Netherlands Show Canceled Over Israel, Charlie Kirk Comments

by jummy84
written by jummy84

U.K. punk-rap provocateurs Bob Vylan have had their upcoming concert in Tilburg, Netherlands, canceled over comments made at a recent show that the venue said “clearly cross a line.”

During the duo’s recent show at Club Paradiso in Amsterdam, frontman Bobby Vylan repeated the “Death, death to the IDF” chant that turned the band into a flashpoint at Glastonbury earlier this summer. According to a report in De Telegraf, a conservative-leaning Dutch newspaper, Vylan also said, “Fuck the fascists, fuck the Zionists. Go find them in the streets.”

Along with these remarks, video also showed Vylan commenting on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University last week. “I want to dedicate this next one to an absolute piece of shit of a human being,” Vylan said. “The pronouns: was/were. Cause if you chat shit, you will get banged. Rest in peace Charlie Kirk, you piece of shit.”

In response, the Tilburg club Poppodium 013 decided to cancel Bob Vylan’s show, which was scheduled to take place Tuesday, Sept. 16. It appears the decision was based largely on Vylan’s “go find them in the streets” comment, though it’s possible his statement on Kirk’s killing played some role, too. 

“We believe the statements Bob Vylan made last night at Paradiso clearly cross a line,” Poppodium 013 wrote in a statement (via Google Translate). “We strongly reject the trivialization of political murder and the call to ‘go look for people in the streets.’”

They continued: “While we understand that the statements were made in the context of punk and activism, and that the reporting on them is sometimes less nuanced than what actually happened, we nevertheless believe that these new statements go too far. They no longer fall within the boundaries of what we can offer a stage.”

In explaining their decision, Poppodium 013 did note the reason they went ahead with the concert in the first place, despite calls to cancel it following Bob Vylan’s controversial Glastonbury set.

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“The venue expressed its understanding for the artist’s anger regarding the genocidal violence perpetrated by the State of Israel in Gaza, a situation that deserves our full attention, even though his words were not our own,” they said. “We still share that shock and outrage. Moreover, Bob Vylan clarified in his own statement that his earlier statement ‘death to the IDF’ was not an antisemitic slogan, but rather criticism of the Israeli army. 013 wanted to send a message that Gaza deserves full attention and that outrage about it deserves a place on stage. We still stand by that.”

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Vylan partially addressed this latest controversy on Instagram, specifically rejecting media reports that characterized his comments about Kirk’s death as celebratory. “At no point during yesterday’s show was Charlie Kirk’s death celebrated,” he said. “At no point whatsoever did we celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death. I did call him a piece of shit, that much is true. But at no point was his death celebrated.”

He added: “What did happen is, one reporter that bought their ticket online, came with the sole purpose of finding something to report. And after I called him a piece of shit and played a song, they have written that up as a celebration. Not a celebration. Isn’t a celebration. Wasn’t a celebration. Calm down.” 

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Bob Vylan announce ‘We Won’t Go Quietly’ 2025 UK tour as they hit back at “spineless” BBC chief for condemning “deeply disturbing” Glastonbury set to MPs
Music

Bob Vylan announce ‘We Won’t Go Quietly’ 2025 UK tour as they hit back at “spineless” BBC chief for condemning “deeply disturbing” Glastonbury set to MPs

by jummy84
written by jummy84

Bob Vylan have announced some UK headline dates for 2025, and hit back at the BBC director-general for condemning their Glastonbury set to MPs.

The punk rap duo will hit the road for their ‘We Won’t Go Quietly’ tour this November, following a summer of controversy surrounding their slot at Worthy Farm in June.

  • READ MORE: Bob Vylan: “We’ve been screaming about these topics at the top of our lungs for years. Why has it taken this long?”

“After all the attempts to silence us, we’re about to be louder than ever. We won’t go quietly!” the band wrote when confirming the upcoming shows this morning (September 9).

Kicking off at the O2 Academy in Leeds on November 4, the trek also includes stops in Manchester, Glasgow, London, Bristol and Birmingham.

Tickets go on general sale at 10am BST this Friday (September 12) – you’ll be able to buy yours here. An O2 Priority pre-sale will begin at the same time tomorrow (Wednesday September 10).

Check out the announcement post below, along with the full schedule.

Bob Vylan’s 2025 ‘We Won’t Go Quietly’ UK tour dates are:

NOVEMBER
04 – O2 Academy, Leeds
05 – Academy, Manchester
06 – O2 Academy, Glasgow 
11 – O2 Kentish Town Forum, London
20 – The Prospect Building, Bristol 

DECEMBER
04 – O2 Academy, Birmingham 

Bob Vylan have also called out Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, after he called the corporation’s decision to broadcast the duo’s Glastonbury 2025 set live “a very significant mistake” (via The Independent).

When facing questions from MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Committee today, Davie branded Bob Vylan’s slot at the event “anti-Semitic” and “deeply disturbing”.

“I don’t think I misread it, I just got there [to Glastonbury] when I heard about it [at] about five o’clock,” Davie recalled. “The performance was well done by then, and at that point, I knew absolutely that it was an anti-Semitic broadcast.

“So, my decision was to get that off on demand, simple as that. I mean, it wasn’t too complicated in my mind […] I do think it was deeply disturbing.”

Bob Vylan at the BandLab NME Awards 2022. Credit: Zoe McConnell for NME

In response, the band labelled Davie a “spineless puppet” and denied any wrongdoing once again: “There was nothing anti-Semitic or criminal about anything I said at Glastonbury. Why do you think @metpoliceuk @ASPolice are taking so long?

As well as being dropped by their agency, Bob Vylan have had their US visas revoked and are currently under criminal investigation over the performance. The gig saw the duo voice their support for Palestine, criticise Israel, and lead the crowd in chants of “death, death to the IDF [Israel Defence Forces]”.

In July, it was reported that police were still investigating Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set. However, it was confirmed at the time that they had dropped their inquiry into Kneecap’s performance at the festival.

“Tim Davie is doing his best to continue throwing others under the bus and cling on to power at the BBC but we see him and the institution for what they are,” Bob Vylan wrote this afternoon.

“Bought and paid for, complicit in the Gaza genocide and a leading force in the silencing of those speaking up against it.”

They went on to claim that “the reason [their Glastonbury set] wasn’t cut immediately is not because of some oversight at the BBC as they keep making out, but because there was nothing anti-Semitic about the performance”.

Davie said today that “the BBC made a very significant mistake in broadcasting” the show. “The fact that those words were broadcast to that broad audience […] frankly, it was disturbing,” he added.

Bob Vylan responded: “As a matter of fact I know there were staff at the BBC that loved the performance and saw nothing wrong with it until they were told there was something wrong with it. I also know some other bits and pieces but let me just 🤐.”

Following the broadcast, a spokesperson for the BBC said: “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.”

They continued: “The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence. The anti-Semitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves.”

Bob Vylan have also today addressed Lorna Clarke stepping down from her role as the BBC’s director of music following the backlash.

“Lorna Clarke, a Black woman, was so quickly dismissed from her duties after Glastonbury,” they wrote. “Why? Someone had to fall and who easier to take it than a Black woman. But now [Davie is] getting grilled and is showing just how incompetent and bought HE is.”

Bob Vylan have spoken out to defend their Glastonbury 2025 performance numerous times now. They’ve claimed it was vital to “teach our children to speak up for the change they want”, and reiterated that they were wanting the “dismantling of a violent military machine” – not calling for “the death of Jews or Arabs or any other race or group”.

In a statement, Glastonbury organisers said they were “appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan”.

Shortly after the festival, the BBC said it would no longer broadcast performances it deemed “high risk”. Around the same time, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy accused the BBC of having a “problem of leadership”.

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