Punk duo frontman Bobby Vylan has stated he is "not regretful" about his "anti-IDF chant" performance at the festival and asserted he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
The outspoken music pair sparked significant controversy when they initiated audience chants of "death, death to the IDF," pointing to the IDF, during their June set. The slogan was condemned by festival organizers and UK Prime Minister the prime minister, who labeled it as "shocking hate speech."
After the event, the band was released by its agency UTA, and the US state department revoked the members' visas, forcing the duo to call off a planned US and Canada tour.
During his initial interview after the festival performance, the musician, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, spoke on a popular podcast. When asked if he would repeat his actions, he responded:
"Oh yeah. Like what if I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes I would do it again. I'm without regret of it. I'd say it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
The artist noted that the backlash the duo encountered was "small compared to what individuals in Gaza are experiencing."
"I don't want to overstate the significance of the slogan," he elaborated. "That's not what I'm attempting to do, but if I have the Palestinian people's support, they're the individuals that I'm doing it for, these are the people that I'm speaking up for, then what is there to regret? Well, because I've angered some rightwing official or some conservative media?"
This musician claimed he was surprised by the uproar triggered by the chant, and stated that members of BBC staff at the event told him on the same day that the set was "excellent."
Yet, the corporation's executive complaints unit subsequently determined that the network's broadcast of the show breached content standards in relation to harm and offence.
He informed Theroux there was no sign of a controversy in the immediate aftermath: "It didn't feel like we came off stage, and everyone was like [gasps]. It's just normal. We come off stage. It was normal. No one suspected anything. Not a soul. Including staff at the BBC were like 'That was fantastic! We enjoyed that!'"
The musician also hit back at Damon Albarn, who called the chant "one of the most spectacular misfires I've seen in my life" and described Vylan as "goose-stepping in tennis gear."
His reaction was "letdown" and "showed no self-awareness," he said.
"I just want to say that categorising it as a 'huge mistake' implies that in some way the politics of the band or our stance on Palestinian liberation is not thought out," he explained.
"I strongly object with the term 'goose-stepping' being used because it's only used around Nazi Germany," he continued. "Precisely. And for him to use that wording, I think is offensive. I think his response was appalling."
After asked what he intended by the phrase "Death to the IDF," the artist clarified the chant itself was "unimportant."
"What is important is the situation that persist to allow that chant to even take place on that stage. And I mean, the conditions that are present in Palestine. Where the Palestinian population are being killed at an disturbing rate. Who cares about the chant?" he stated.
"The phrase rhymes," he noted: "Stop the IDF' does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, right? … We are there to entertain. We are there to sing songs. I am a lyricist. 'The chant' rhymes. Ideal chant."
Vylan also rejected assertions from the Community Security Trust, a monitoring and Jewish safety organisation, that their set led to a rise in antisemitic events recorded two days.
"I believe I have created an hostile atmosphere for the Jewish community. If there were large numbers of individuals going out and saying 'We made me do this'. I could go, oh, I've had a negative impact here," he commented.
When Vylan mentioned he felt the band had been targeted more heavily than others for voicing views about the conflict, Theroux referenced the Ireland-based group another band, who have also encountered criticism for their method to pro-Palestine messaging.
"That's an interesting one," he said, "because as with all things ethnicity becomes a part in that we are an more convenient villain, no pun intended, than they are because we are already the enemy."
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