Sharon Osbourne is the latest public figure to weigh in on a controversial performance at the Coachella music festival last weekend, issuing a scathing rebuke of an Irish hip-hop group, Kneecap, for projecting an anti-Israel message during their set. 

“Coachella 2025 will be remembered as a festival that compromised its moral and spiritual integrity,” the wife of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne shared on Instagram. Ms. Osbourne, whose mother is of Irish Catholic descent and father is Ashekanzi Jewish, lambasted the Irish band for “incorporating aggressive political statements” into its performance and for “openly” supporting “terrorist organizations.”

The rap group at the center of the controversy made headlines this weekend after their performance background showcased slogans like “F**k Israel, Free Palestine” and “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.” The group also projected messages accusing Israel of committing “genocide against the Palestinian people,” which they added is “is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.” At one point, band member Mo Chara led the crowd in chants of “Free Palestine.”  

Coachella, an annual music festival held in Southern California, draws an estimated 250,000 attendees over the course of two weekends, making it one of the largest and most profitable music gatherings of its kind in the world. 

The former “X-Factor” judge further chided the company that organizes the festival, Goldenvoice, for “allowing artists to use the Coachella stage as a platform for political expression.” Ms. Osbourne argued that the company’s decision to allow the band to perform again at the festival — even after they made anti-Israel comments during a Coachella performance the previous week — “suggests support of their rhetoric and a lack of due diligence.” 

Ms. Osbourne closed out her impassioned statement by calling on her followers to join her in advocating for the revocation of Kneecap’s work visa. 

Organizers of the Nova Festival — the music gathering decimated during Hamas’s October 7 attack — also spoke out against Kneecap’s performance, which they said “deeply hurt many in our community.”

“The Nova community was built on the ideals of peace, freedom, and unity through music,” the organizers wrote. “Our festival was a space where people came together across cultures and beliefs to celebrate life. That’s why we believe that even in the face of ignorance or provocation, our response must be rooted in empathy, not hate.”

The Nova festival group continued by inviting Kneecap’s bandmembers to visit the Nova exhibition and to “experience firsthand the stories of those who were murdered, those who survived, and those who are still being held hostage.” They added: “Not to shame or silence — but to connect. To witness. To understand.”

Music insiders maintain that Coachella’s organizers were “blindsided” by the political performance. Prominent music manager Scooter Braun, who helped launch the American exhibition about Hamas’s attack on the Nova Music Festival, came to the defense of Goldenvoice’s president, Paul Tollett, in a post on Instagram. Mr. Braun recalled that the Coachella founder was “the first person” from the music industry to accept his invitation to attend the opening of the Nova exhibit in Los Angeles and that “he spent five hours in the exhibit” before meeting with survivors who he invited to the festival this year as his guests. 

“Let’s not lose sight of who this man is, and let us stand with him in this moment when a group, without his knowing, took advantage of his festival and created hate in a place that’s filled with love,” Mr. Braun wrote. 

The anti-Israel displays at Coachella were not limited to Kneecap’s performance, however. An American punk band, Green Day, changed a lyric in their 2004 song “Jesus of Suburbia” to offer a message about the war in Gaza. Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong riffed off of the lyric “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimized” to be “Running away from pain like the kids from Palestine.” The band, however, refrained from inserting a line about the Israeli hostages still in Gaza.