The BBC has confirmed that it will no longer broadcast live performances which they consider as “high-risk” following the controversial Bob Vylan set at Glastonbury.
The punk duo took to the stage at Worthy Farm last Saturday (June 28) in a performance broadcast live on iPlayer as part of BBC’s extensive Glastonbury coverage.
Throughout the gig they voiced their support for Palestine, whilst calling out the BBC, Israel and the US and UK governments. A message was projected onto the screen reading “Free Palestine – United Nations have called it a genocide – the BBC calls it a ‘conflict’”.
Frontman Bobby Vylan then led the crowd into chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)”.
The controversial set led to the band being dropped by their agent, United Talent Agency (UTA), as well as having their US visas revoked and their actions described by US Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, as a “hateful tirade”.
The BBC has now come out and responded to criticism labelled at the broadcasting company by politicians and media alike – most notably Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy saying that the BBC’s decision to stream the performance shows a “problem of leadership”.
Samir Shah, Chair of the BBC, shared a new statement, clarifying the action BBC will take: “This was unquestionably an error of judgement. I was very pleased to note that as soon as this came to the notice of Tim Davie (Director General of the BBC)… he took immediate action and instructed the team to withdraw the performance from on demand coverage.
“The BBC Board met on Tuesday to hear what actions will now be taken. The Executive have agreed to put in place a set of strengthened editorial practices and policies for live music programming. These will be important measures to safeguard future live broadcasts from a failure such as this.”
Despite the criticism from both the UK and US Governments, the BBC and even the Glastonbury organisers – many artists have come out to voice their support for Bob Vylan.
Trip Hop icons and loyal activists, Massive Attack, shared a statement where they urged the media to focus on “what is happening daily to the people of Gaza” rather than on the artists speaking out.
Other bands to show support include Lambrini Girls, Amyl And The Sniffers and Soft Play. The latter posted on social media, saying: “Again, the media is trying to distract you from the real story. The outrage sparked is merely a smoke screen for the lack of reporting on the destruction of the Palestinian people. They are starving children, where is the media’s outrage at Israel’s continued obliteration of a whole nation?”
Despite facing cancellations from festivals including Manchester’s Radar Festival, Bob Vylan still intend to tour with dates coming up in Ireland in August. You can find tickets for their shows here.
