huffingtonpost - 5 days ago

Bobby Vylan of Bob Vylan performing on Glastonbury s West Holts Stage over the summerThe frontman of Bob Vylan has spoken out following the news that British Airways has paused its sponsorship from Louis Theroux’s podcast in light of the presenter’s recent interview with the musician.Earlier this month, Bobby Vylan was a guest on The Louis Theroux Podcast, during which the Mobo winner spoke about the controversy that arose at this year’s Glastonbury festival, where he led the crowd in a chant of “death to the IDF” in solidarity with Palestine.At the time, the punk rap duo faced condemnation from Glastonbury’s organisers, the BBC – who broadcast the set live on its iPlayer service – and even the prime minister Keir Starmer, with Bobby insisting during his recent interview that he’d “do it again tomorrow” despite the backlash.Louis Theroux in 2022Over the weekend, a spokesperson for British Airways issued a statement which read (as reported by The Times): “Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed.“We’re grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy in relation to politically sensitive or controversial subject matters.”They added: “We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don’t occur and we’re investigating how this happened.”Posting on X on Sunday, Bobby branded the move a “scare tactic”.“I went on the podcast and as hard as the lobby groups and media tried, they couldn’t twist anything I said,” he said. “So they have resorted to lobbying for Louis’ sponsorship to be pulled in an attempt to scare others out of giving me a platform.”Bobby later wrote: “They thought they were going to get a dumb angry punk ranting. Instead they got articulate and considered responses to each question with facts to back it up when needed.“Their hope to further vilify me couldn’t run, so they target Louis to make an example for sitting with me. The lobby groups, the British government and media are determined to make an example of me, all because I dare to want an end to a genocidal occupying force guilty of war crimes.”Make no mistake, this is a scare tactic. I went on the podcast and as hard as the lobby groups and media tried, they couldn’t twist anything I said. So they have resorted to lobbying for Louis’ sponsorship to be pulled in an attempt to scare others out of giving me a platform. https://t.co/lxmsX0aZlt Bob Vylan (@BobbyVylan) October 26, 2025They thought they were going to get a dumb angry punk ranting. Instead they got articulate and considered responses to each question with facts to back it up when needed. Their hope to further vilify me couldn’t run, so they target Louis to make an example for sitting with me. pic.twitter.com/EX2hOnhvoF Bob Vylan (@BobbyVylan) October 26, 2025The lobby groups, the British government and media are determined to make an example of me, all because I dare to want an end to a genocidal occupying force guilty of war crimes. Bob Vylan (@BobbyVylan) October 26, 2025During the interview in question with Louis Theroux, Bobby stated: “I’m not regretful [about what happened at Glastonbury] at all. [...] The subsequent backlash that I’ve faced – it’s minimal compared to what people in Palestine are going through.“If that can be my contribution and if I can have my Palestinian friends and people that I meet from Palestine, that have had to flee, that have lost members in double digits of their family and they can say, ‘yo, your chant, I love it. Or it gave me a breath of fresh air or whatever’ – and I don’t want to overstate the importance of the chant. That’s not what I’m trying to do – but if I have their support, they’re the people that I’m doing it for. They’re the people that I’m being vocal for.”Shortly after Glastonbury, the members of Bob Vylan said in a joint statement: “We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people. We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine. A machine whose own soldiers were told to use ‘unnecessary lethal force’ against innocent civilians waiting for aid. A machine that has destroyed much of Gaza.”“The government doesn’t want us to ask why they remain silent in the face of this atrocity. To ask why they aren’t doing more to stop the killing. To feed the starving. The more they talk about Bob Vylan, the less they spend answering for their criminal inaction.”READ MORE: What Is There To Regret? : Bob Vylan Frontman Reflects On Glastonbury Chant BacklashBob Vylan Frontman Slams Politicians And Mainstream Media s Stark U-Turn On Gaza

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