The BBC has made a statement after they decided to share footage of Kneecap’s Glastonbury performance on iPlayer as they opted to clamp down on duo Bob Vylan amid backlash

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The BBC has issued a statement following the controversy caused by both Kneecap and Bob Vylan’s performance at Glastonbury. Both acts have faced outrage from some viewers as well as politicians for their messages on stage.

During Kneecap’s performance on the West Holts Stage, they started chants of ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘f*** Keir Starmer’. Duo Bob Vylan took to the stage just before the Irish rap group, and have come under fire for chanting ‘Death to the IDF’.

Bob Vylan’s set was aired live on the BBC at the time, while the corporation decided not to air Kneecap’s set as it happened. They have since decided to upload Kneecap’s performance to iPlayer.

Bob Vylan have faced backlash for their chants ( 
Image:
PA)
In response a BBC spokesperson said: “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 continued: “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.”

Kneecap’s set on the BBC still includes their chants while Bob Vylan’s set is nowhere to be found. Glastonbury also issued a statement following criticism over the acts.

Festival bosses said: “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.”

It comes after they were blasted by Health Secretary Wes Streeting and the Israeli embassy, with the Labour MP warning that both the BBC and Glastonbury had “questions to answer”. He went on to brand it a “pretty 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.”

Asked if the BBC should have cut the live feed, he said the broadcaster has questions to answer, but that he did not know what the editorial and operational “challenges” are of taking such action.

Meanwhile, the Israeli embassy said that it was “deeply disturbed” by the scenes on Saturday. Police are also investigating the incident after clips emerged online.