The BBC has spoken out in the wake of Kneecap and Bob Vylan’s controversial Glastonbury performances – and has banned one of them from on-demand viewing.
The grime-punk duo, named for US singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, are being investigated after allegedly calling for ‘Death to the IDF’ during their performance at Worthy Farm, shown live by the BBC on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Irish language rap trio were not streamed live by the BBC – but the broadcaster faced calls, including from Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch, for the band to be dropped after one member was charged with a terror offence.
The group’s lead rapper Liam O’Hanna, 27, whose stage name is Mo Chara, is on unconditional bail after being charged with terrorism for supporting Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist organisation.
It came after he appeared in court last week after being charged for allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah while saying ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’ at a gig in November last year.
And now, the BBC has spoken out about its stance on both acts, saying it has made Kneecap’s performance available to stream on iPlayer.
Meanwhile, it has ‘no plans’ to make Bob Vylan’s performance available on demand, citing the ‘deeply offensive’ language the pair used onstage.
A BBC spokesperson said of Kneecap: ‘We have made an on-demand version of Kneecap’s performance available on iPlayer, as part of our online collection of more than 90 other sets.
‘We have edited it to ensure the content falls within the limits of artistic expression in line with our editorial guidelines and reflects the performance from Glastonbury’s West Holts stage.
‘As with all content which includes strong language, this is signposted with appropriate warnings.
‘As we have said before, acts are booked by the festival, and the BBC doesn’t ban artists. We didn’t stream Kneecap live.’
They added of Bob Vylan: ‘Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive.
‘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.’
