Bob Vylan at Glastonbury on June 28, 2025 / BBC
Organisers of the Glastonbury Festival and broadcast partner the BBC have slammed Bob Vylan for comments made during their set on Saturday.
During the performance on the West Holts stage, which was live streamed on iPlayer, the rap duo led the crowd in chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF” – IDF being the Israel Defense Forces.
Although the incident was aired live, the BBC said that it will not be uploading an on-demand version to its streaming service.
“Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive,” the corporation in a statement. “During this live stream on iPlayer, which reflected what was happening on stage, a warning was issued on screen about the very strong and discriminatory language. We have no plans to make the performance available on demand.”
In a lengthy statement on Instagram, Glastonbury Festival said: “Glastonbury Festival was created in 1970 as a place for people to come together and rejoice in music, the arts and the best of human endeavour. As a festival, we stand against all forms of war and terrorism. We will always believe in – and actively campaign for – hope, unity, peace and love.
“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.
“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.”
Appearing on Sunday’s media rounds this morning, health secretary Wes Streeting condemned Bob Vylan for a “shameless publicity stunt”.
“I thought it’s 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 told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.
“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.”
Glastonbury has also come in for criticism for platforming Irish hip hop group Kneecap, who have also courted controversy by calling for people to “kill” Conservative MPs.
