Bobby Vylan reflects on controversial Glastonbury 2025 set and “death to the IDF” chants: “I said what I said”
Bobby Vylan of punk duo Bob Vylan has addressed his controversial remarks at Glastonbury 2025 – see his full statement below.
On Saturday (June 28), the duo performed to a packed West Holts stage ahead of Kneecap‘s eagerly awaited set. Just hours before Kneecap were due to take the stage (where they called out Keir Starmer), the BBC shared that it had made the decision to remove the Irish rap trio’s livestream off their iPlayer platform, and would instead air an edited version on iPlayer on demand at a later time.
With Bob Vylan’s set still up on livestream, the duo used their platform to voice their support for Palestine, call out the BBC, Israel, the US and UK governments and more. Throughout the performance, political slogans were projected onto the screen behind them, including “Free Palestine – United Nations have called it a genocide – the BBC calls it a ‘conflict’”.
After the crowd instigated a chant of “free, free Palestine”, which they did multiple times, Bobby said, “Have you heard this one?”, before leading a chant of “death, death to the IDF”, referring to the Israeli Defense Forces, which are involved in the ongoing war in Gaza.
Bobby also said: “We are not pacifist punks here over at Bob Vylan Enterprises,” referencing lyrics from their 2023 single ‘Censored (Interlude)’. “We are the violent punks, because sometimes you gotta get your message across with violence because that is the only language some people speak, unfortunately.” See a full recap here.
The duo’s comments sparked discourse on social media – some have praised them for standing with Palestine, while others have condemned them for “inciting violence”.
Last night, Bobby took to Instagram to chronicle his thoughts on the incident in a post captioned “I said what I said.” In the post, he shared that he had seen his daughter voicing her opinions on school dinners and that it was a reminder that he stands behind what he said at Glastonbury.
“She expressed that she would like healthier meals, more options and dishes inspired by other parts of the world. Listening to her voice her opinions on a matter that she cares about and affects her daily, reminds me that we may not be doomed after all.”
Bobby continued: “Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place. As we grow older and our fire possibly starts to dim under the suffocation of adult life and all its responsibilities, it is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us. Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change. Let them see up marching in the streets, campaigning on ground level, organising online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered. Today it is a change in school dinners, tomorrow it is a change in foreign policy.”
Following the duo’s performance at Glastonbury 2025, the festival issued a statement saying it was “appalled” by their “death to the IDF” chants: “With almost 4,000 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,” the statement continued.
It went on to say: “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.”
Cabinet minister Wes Streeting has since criticised Bob Vylan’s “death to the IDF” chants while also telling the Israeli embassy to “get its own house in order”. “I thought it was appalling, to be honest, and I think the BBC and Glastonbury have got questions to answer about how we saw such a spectacle on our screens,” he said of Bob Vylan’s set.
“But I also think it’s a pretty shameless publicity stunt, which I don’t really want to give too much indulgence to for that reason.” Per Sky News, he said focus should instead be turned on “Israeli settler terrorists” attacking a Christian village just weeks after setting it on fire. “I’d also say to the Israeli embassy, get your own house in order, in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank.”
Meanwhile, the Avon and Somerset Police have said they will be investigating Bob Vylan’s performance, as well as Kneecap’s set, to “determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.”
Israel has been carrying out a full-scale military campaign on occupied Gaza for almost two years, since the October 2023 attack by Hamas at the Israeli music festival Supernova where 1,195 people were killed.
The UN has found Israel’s military actions to be consistent with genocide, and at least 56,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel has continually denied that what’s going on in Palestine is considered a genocide, and has argued that it has not partaken in any war crimes.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2025.
The post Bobby Vylan reflects on controversial Glastonbury 2025 set and “death to the IDF” chants: “I said what I said” appeared first on NME.
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