The frontman of Bob Vylan has expressed he is "without regret" about his "anti-IDF chant" performance at the festival and declared he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
This vocal music pair ignited widespread controversy when they initiated audience chants of "down with the IDF," pointing to the IDF, during their summer set. This chant was censured by festival organizers and Britain's leader Keir Starmer, who described it as "shocking hate speech."
After the incident, Bob Vylan was released by its agency UTA, and the US state department cancelled the members' travel documents, forcing the duo to cancel a scheduled US and Canada tour.
During his first public discussion since the Glastonbury show, the musician, using his birth name is Pascal Foster, conversed on a popular podcast. After asked if he would repeat his actions, he replied:
"Absolutely. Like what if I was to go on the festival again tomorrow, yes I would repeat it. I'm not regretful of it. I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."
The artist noted that the criticism the duo encountered was "small compared to what people in Gaza are going through."
"I aim not to overstate the significance of the chant," he continued. "It isn't what I'm attempting to do, but since I have their support, these are the people that I'm advocating for, they're the individuals that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to regret? Well, because I've upset some rightwing official or some conservative news outlet?"
The musician said he was taken aback by the outcry sparked by the exclamation, and asserted that staff of BBC employees at the event told him on the day that the performance was "excellent."
However, the corporation's executive complaints unit later found that the network's broadcast of the performance violated content standards in regard to harm and offence.
Vylan informed Theroux there was no indication of a controversy in the immediate aftermath: "It didn't feel like we left stage, and everyone was like [gasps]. It's just normal. We leave stage. It's normal. Nobody thought anything. Not a soul. Including crew at the BBC were like 'That was fantastic! We loved that!'"
The musician also hit back at Damon Albarn, who called the protest "a major misstep I've witnessed in my life" and described him as "goose-stepping in sport gear."
Albarn's reaction was "disappointing" and "lacked self-awareness," he remarked.
"I need to say that categorising it as a 'spectacular misfire' implies that somehow the views of the duo or our position on Palestinian liberation is unplanned," he stated.
"I take great issue with the term 'marching' being used because it's only used around Nazi Germany," he added. "That's it. And for him to use that wording, I think is offensive. I think his answer was disgusting."
After asked what he meant by the phrase "Death to the IDF," Vylan said the chant itself was "unimportant."
"The key issue is the conditions that persist to permit that protest to even take place on that platform. And I mean, the conditions that are present in Palestine. Where the Palestinian population are being killed at an alarming rate. What matters about the chant?" he stated.
"The phrase rhymes," he added: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, would it? … We are there to perform. We are there to play music. I am a songwriter. 'The chant' rhymes. Perfect slogan."
Vylan also denied assertions from the CST, a monitoring and Jewish community safety organisation, that their set contributed to a rise in antisemitic incidents reported later.
"I believe I have created an unsafe atmosphere for the Jewish community. If there were large numbers of people going out and going like 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I could go, oof, I've had a negative impact here," he commented.
As he mentioned he felt the duo had been targeted more heavily than different artists for voicing views about the conflict, Theroux referenced the Irish group another band, who have likewise encountered backlash for their approach to pro-Palestine advocacy.
"That's an interesting one," Vylan responded, "because as with all things race comes to play a factor in that we are an easier target, seriously, than others are because we are already the opponent."
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