“Children are starving to death, and we’re spending six or seven days talking about Kneecap,” says manager

After the band have come under intense scrutiny in recent days, Kneecap‘s manager has come out in their defence, saying they “stand on the right side of history” with their pro-Palestine messaging.

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Following the Belfast rap trio’s appearances at Coachella earlier this month, they reportedly left organisers “blindsided” due to the overtly political nature of their live sets.

The first weekend, the live stream of their set was cut after they voiced their support for a free Palestine, and also led the crowd in a provocative anti-Margaret Thatcher chant. “Not only was that cut,” they later said, referring to the Thatcher refrain, “our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either.”

At the second weekend, the band provided their own livestream, with political commentator Hasan Piker broadcasting their set live on Twitch. Slogans including “Fuck Israel, Free Palestine”, “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes” were projected on the screen behind them as they played.

Those California gigs led to calls from Sharon Osbourne to revoke their working visas. They later responded to Osbourne, and called the controversy “a coordinated smear campaign” against their efforts to “expose the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people”.

The weeks since have seen the ‘H.O.O.D’ artists facing numerous calls from politicians to remove them from several upcoming festival dates – including Glastonbury and TRNSMT – after it was revealed earlier this week that counter-terror police are assessing footage from the band’s London show last November.

Footage from that show appears to depict a member of Kneecap yelling out “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”, while displaying a Hezbollah flag. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are proscribed terror organisations, as listed by the UK government, and it is also an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 to “invite support for a proscribed organisation”.

On Monday (April 28), Kneecap took to X/Twitter to share a statement denying their alleged support of Hamas, Hezbollah and promoting violence against MPs, saying: “Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation’s history.

“We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever,” they continued. “An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action.”

It followed reports that police have since begun assessing a second video from one of their gigs, which purportedly shows the group calling for the death of Conservative MPs. In response, Labour MP for Hemel Hempstead David Taylor and Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney have made public calls for the removal of Kneecap from several summer festival performances.

The Jo Cox foundation, launched in recognition of the Labour MP Jo Cox who was murdered in 2016, also shared a statement on X/Twitter condemning the band, writing that they had “clearly” crossed a line “from political expression to inciting violence”.

Similarly, the daughter of late Conservative MP David Amess, who was murdered in 2021, told the BBC she was “gobsmacked at the stupidity of somebody or a group of people being in the public eye and saying such dangerous, violent rhetoric”, adding that the band should make apologies to her “and every other person that has been offended by this”.

10 Downing Street have since responded to Kneecap’s statement, with the Prime Minister’s official spokesman calling it “half-hearted” and saying: “they should apologise.”

They go on to say: “We completely reject in the strongest possible terms the comments that they’ve made, particularly in relation to MPs and intimidation as well as obviously the situation in the Middle East,” adding: “It’s right that the police are looking into these videos.”

Their planned Eden Sessions gig on July 4 – as well as at German festivals Hurricane and Southside – have now been cancelled, with the band responding by quickly announcing a replacement gig, also on July 4, at Plymouth Pavillion, as well as three headline shows in Germany.

After the sustained backlash, their manager Daniel Lambert defended the band during an appearance on RTÉ’s Prime Time on Tuesday night (April 29), saying “children are starving to death, and we’re spending six or seven days talking about Kneecap,” adding: “We spent less than a day talking about fifteen executed medics.”

The band had referenced the murder of the medics on X/Twitter back in March, writing: “This weekend Israel executed 15 medics – they buried them in a mass grave and then buried their ambulances with bulldozers,” going on to call Israel “deeply evil”.

This weekend Israel executed 15 medics – they buried them in a mass grave and then buried their ambulances with bulldozers.

The most deranged and dangerous nation on earth.

ISRAEL IS DEEPLY EVIL pic.twitter.com/yDxp3NV3rY

— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) March 31, 2025

14 emergency workers and one UN worker were killed on March 23 after a convoy came under fire by the Israeli military. Per BBC News, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops opened fire believing they were facing a threat from enemy forces, with an inquiry finding a series of failings, including an “operational misunderstanding” and a “breach of orders”.

Speaking to Miriam O’Callaghan, Lambert said that “at every point, [the band] have the absolute conviction that they are doing the right thing and they stand on the right side of history.”

“A video didn’t emerge,” he continued. “There was a concerted campaign emanating from the US to analyse every single thing that Kneecap have ever said.

“Why this happened was because of what they said at Coachella, and what they said at Coachella was the right thing to say. It’s a message aimed at governments who are enabling a genocide in Gaza.

“What really scared the state of Israel, and what lead to this campaign, is the reaction of young people in America,” added Lambert. “Young people who aren’t willing to support a genocide, young people who have empathy and sympathy towards the Palestinian people.”

When asked by by O’Callaghan if saying “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” was ever right, Lambert said pointed to “moral hysteria and moral outrage”, saying: “You’ve a band being held to higher moral account than politicians who are ignoring international law.

“Why are the Palestinians where they are today? They’re where they are because there’s been a wholesale denial of their rights as human beings,” he went on.

O’Callaghan raised that the band’s popularity meant they had a “greater responsibility” not use irresponsible language in allegedly calling for violence towards MPs.

“The idea that that was incitement of violence against an MP is ludicrous,” said Lambert. “It was taken entirely out of context. They are performers, it was part of a performance. If you were to look at dozens of comedians globally […] and take six words out of a comedy act and then lay it out, you could do that to dozens of people.”

Lambert also said the band were not worried about the fate of their upcoming performance at Glastonbury Festival, saying: “It’s not for us to worry. It’s for us to have the strength and conviction that we did the right thing.”

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