State Department Bars Bob Vylan From America After Antisemitic Remarks at Glastonbury Festival; Canada Likely Next

Punk/rap duo Bob Vylan, which sparked a firestorm when it led crowds at the U.K.’s Glastonbury Festival in a chant of “Death, Death to the IDF,” was forced to cancel its upcoming American tour after the Department of State revoked its visa.“The @StateDept has revoked the US visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury, including leading the crowd in death chants,” Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landeau confirmed in a post on X.“Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country.”Bobby Vylan’s actions may result in a ban from entering into Canada for dates on its upcoming North American tour. A Canadian parliament member, Anthony Housefather, called on the Ministry of Public Safety to bar the lead singer from entering the country.His conduct “was plain incitement. It was hate against anyone who served in the Israeli military which is the vast majority of Israeli Jews and Druze and was calling for the death of millions,” Mr. Housefather said to The New York Sun. “This man’s message should not be welcome anywhere in North America.”“I believe that Vylan’s conduct in Glastonbury should render him inadmissible for entry and I sent the information on what occurred to the relevant member of our cabinet, who is the Minister of Public Safety, and to his team.”United Talent Agency also dropped the group on Monday. Agency insiders told Deadline that UTA officials shared the sentiments of the festival’s organizers, who believed singer Bobby Vylan had crossed the line with his comments on stage. The group has already been scrubbed from UTA’s website.The controversy was ignited after the Saturday afternoon performance at the United Kingdom’s largest annual music festival, which had aired live on the BBC. Singer Bobby Vylan led the audience in chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF” in reference to the Israeli Defense Forces.The singer also called ended their set by chanting “f— Keir Starmer,” referring to the British prime minister.The performance immediately drew outrage from Mr. Starmer, who had also called for another rap outfit, Kneecap, not to be allowed to perform at the festival after it made anti-Israeli comments while displaying a Hezbollah flag while on the stage at California’s Coachella festival in April.“There is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech,” he said in a statement. “I said that Kneecap should not be given a platform, and that goes for any other performers making threats or inciting violence. The BBC needs to explain how these scenes came to be broadcast.”The BBC, which live-streamed Bob Vylan’s set on its iPlayer app, said replays of the concert would not be available.“Some of the comments made during Bob Vylan’s set were deeply offensive,” the BBC said. “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.”It added: “The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence. The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves.” The band initially posted a glib response to the outrage on social media.“While zionists are crying on socials, I’ve just had late night (vegan) ice cream,” Bobby Vylan said Saturday night in a post to Instagram, which has since been deleted.The next day, he posted a second message on the social media app, seemingly without remorse for his actions. “As I lay in bed this morning, my phone buzzing nonstop, inundated with messages of both support and hatred, I listen to my daughter typing out loud as she fills out a school survey,” he wrote in the screenshot of his diatribe, which had an additional caption that read, “I said what I said.”“Listening to her voice her opinions on a matter she cares about and affects her daily, reminds me that we may not be doomed after all,” he added. “Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.”

State Department Bars Bob Vylan From America After Antisemitic Remarks at Glastonbury Festival; Canada Likely Next

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