Bob Vylan’s US visas revoked over Glastonbury comments

British punk duo Bob Vylan have been dropped by United Talent Agency and had their US visas revoked after lead vocalist Bobby Vylan led “death to the IDF” chants at Glastonbury Festival.

The decisions emerge amid widespread backlash against the duo. In the immediate aftermath of the statements made while performing on the festival’s West Holts stage, Glastonbury issued a social media statement announcing that Vylan’s statements had “crossed a line”, and that Glastonbury was opposed to “antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”

Elsewhere, the BBC, who were the official broadcasters for the festival, announced that it regretted not cutting the live stream of Bob Vylan’s performance, and equated the duo’s chants with “antisemitism”.

“Millions of people tuned in to enjoy Glastonbury this weekend across the BBC’s output, but one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive,” read a BBC statement. “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.”

Bob Vylan were one of many artists who made statements regarding the ongoing genocide in Palestine last weekend. Also present was a highly anticipated performance from Irish rap trio Kneecap, who have long included pro-Palestine messaging in their music. The group performed just over a week after rapper Mo Chara attended Westminster Magistrates Court for alleged terrorism offences. During the performance, fellow group member Móglaí Bap briefly called for a riot outside of the courts during Mo Chara’s sentencing on August 20. Móglaí Bap clarified later in the set that he did not mean a literal riot, and that he was simply calling on his supporters to attend the trial. 

Still, Avon and Somerset police have since opened criminal investigations into both Vylan’s and Kneecap’s performances. “There is absolutely no place in society for hate,” a spokesperson announced, adding that the performances had been recorded “as a public incident” and that the investigation would “consider all appropriate legislation, including relating to hate crimes.”

More widely, Bob Vylan have had a long history of including political messaging in their music. Both 2021 single “England’s Ending” and 2019 single “Lynch Your Leaders” contained scathing critiques of the UK government and called for the murder of the late Queen Elizabeth II, while lyrics on 2021 punk-rap album We Live Here focus on Bobby Vylan’s personal experiences with racism and xenophobia.