The BBC plans to broadcast Kneecap’s set at Glastonbury after organisers confirmed that the controversial rap group will appear at the festival, The i Paper has learned.
The Northern Irish trio are scheduled to appear on the West Holts stage at 4pm on the Saturday of the Somerset event, which runs from 25 to 29 June.
Glastonbury defied calls for the band to be pulled from the line-up after footage emerged of them allegedly saying, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory”, and, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.
The group’s Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was later charged with a terrorism offence over the alleged display of a Hezbollah flag at a gig in November last year. The Metropolitan Police said he aroused “reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation”.
He is due in court on 18 June, a week before Glastonbury.
The BBC, which announced it will cover more than 100 sets at the festival on TV, radio, iPlayer and BBC Sounds.
Kneecap’s set will be one of the most keenly anticipated of the weekend. The West Holts stage is streamed live as part of the BBC’s planned broadcasts and the corporation said it would not ban Kneecap’s performance.
The Belfast band, who said the authorities were “trying to silence us” before Glastonbury, led chants of “Free Palestine” and attacked “Israeli lobbyists” at a defiant festival show in London last week.
The BBC said all performances it airs from Glastonbury must meet its editorial guidelines, which warn against “unjustifiably offensive language” and require the broadcaster to reflect a range of opinions on controversial subjects and avoid any impression that the broadcaster is endorsing political campaigns.
Asked if the BBC would air Kneecap’s performance, a spokesperson said: “As the broadcast partner, the BBC will be bringing audiences extensive music coverage from Glastonbury, with artists booked by the festival organisers.
“Whilst the BBC doesn’t ban artists, our plans will ensure that our programming will meet our editorial guidelines. Decisions about our broadcast output will be made in the lead up to the festival.”
Sources added that many Glastonbury performances made available on its streaming platform were pre-recorded.
A delay gives the BBC the option to edit Kneecap’s performance for bad language and inflammatory remarks before putting it on iPlayer.
There are likely to be warnings over language and possibly offence around Kneecap’s set.
While the band’s critics include Cabinet Minister Lucy Powell – who told Parliament: “I’m sure that no-one in this House would want to see them playing at Glastonbury” – the BBC is aware that many young music fans will expect to see a performance by one of the most talked-about group in Britain.
And banning from the airwaves a group named one of BBC 6 Music’s Artists of the Year in 2024, would provoke a backlash from the band’s supporters.
Band capitalises on its notoriety
Kneecap capitalised on its notoriety by announcing a headline show at the 12,500 capacity Wembley Arena in September. However, they were taken out of the line-up at Scotland’s TRNSMT festival last week due to safety concerns by police.
Counter-terrorism police previously investigated Kneecap after the videos emerged. The group apologised to the families of murdered MPs but said footage of the incident had been “exploited and weaponised”, and also said they have “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah, which are banned in the UK.
A secret slot filled by ‘Patchwork’ at Glastonbury Festival has got the rumour mill in action (Photo: Matt Cardy/Getty)Palestinian flags are expected to be a prominent feature of this month’s Glastonbury with a number of artists likely to address the Gaza conflict from the stage.
The BBC’s policy for headline acts has been to “reflect the artists’ performances from the main stages as they happen” while maintaining “appropriate editorial considerations”.
When Stormzy headlined in 2019, including the line “f*** Boris” in his Vossi Bop song, the BBC prepared viewers by giving a language warning before the post-watershed performance.
The BBC said it will broadcast 90 hours of live TV coverage from the main stages this year.
Presenters including Jo Whiley and Lauren Laverne will introduce headline sets from Olivia Rodrigo to the 1975 and Neil Young.
Surprise performances include an unknown band named Patchwork who are due to perform on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday between 6pm and 7pm.
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