https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8x8n5kn80qo

Kneecap say they have faced a "smear campaign"

Catherine Doyle

BBC News NI

Published

30 April 2025, 10:31 BST

Updated 1 hour ago

Three more Kneecap concerts have been cancelled in Germany.

It comes after news that footage of a band member calling for MPs to be killed is being assessed by counter-terrorism police.

A ticket site for the gigs in Hamburg, Berlin and Cologne states that the summer shows are no longer going ahead.

A number of politicians have called for the Irish rap band to be uninvited from some UK gigs, with Tory MP Mark Francois saying the group should not be allowed to play Glastonbury in light of the ongoing police investigation.

The largest body representing Jews in the UK also called for Glastonbury to cancel the group's planned performance.

In a statement, the Board of Deputies of British Jews said the rap trio's remarks had "caused great concern both within the UK Jewish community and wider society".

Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time on Tuesday, the band's manager said "moral hysteria" had taken hold and that the band are being held to a higher moral standard than politicians.

Daniel Lambert claimed a "concerted campaign" against the group is "solely about de-platforming artists".

"It's about telling the next young band, both through the music industry and through the political class, that you cannot speak about Palestine," he said.

On having gigs cancelled, the band's manager said: "It's not for us to worry, it's for us to have the strength of conviction that we did the right thing."

He added that going to Coachella was the right thing to do, and "all of this has emerged from that".

TV personality Sharon Osbourne called for the band's US work visas to be revoked after their performance at the Coachella music festival in California earlier this month, where they described Israel's military action in Gaza as a US-funded genocide.

Which Kneecap gigs have been cancelled?
Scheduled appearances at Hurricane and Southside festivals, also in Germany, were cancelled last week.

A gig at the Eden Project in Cornwall has also been cancelled.

On Tuesday, an Eden Sessions Limited spokesperson said: "Ticket purchasers will be contacted directly and will be fully refunded."

The band are set to support Fontaines DC at Boucher Playing Fields, Belfast, in August.

Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster's The Nolan Show, Belfast city councillor Jim Rodgers of the Ulster Unionist Party said "serious consideration should be given" on whether the concert should go ahead.

"I've already spoken to some of the council officers and I'm hoping that the necessary action will be taken. We have to lead by example," he said.

"We would be sending out the wrong message if we were to allow this group to go ahead with their event."

The Democratic Unionist Party has called for an emergency city council meeting.

"Citing concerns over 'dangerous rhetoric,' glorification of terrorism, and incitement to violence, we insist such acts should not be platformed on Council-owned land," the party said.

A Belfast City Council spokesperson said: "Use of the venue for these events is managed via a legal agreement between the council and the promoter. Events programming remains a matter for the organisers.

"Any matter that an elected member wishes to raise would be considered by the relevant committee and full council."

Who are Kneecap?

The group go by the stage names of Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvaí

Kneecap are an Irish-speaking rap trio who have courted controversy with their provocative lyrics and merchandise.

The group was formed in 2017 by three friends who go by the stage names of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí.

Their rise to fame inspired a semi-fictionalised film starring Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender.

The film won a British Academy of Film Award (Bafta) in February 2025.

'Smear campaign'

Last week, a video emerged of the west Belfast trio at a November 2023 gig appearing to show one person from the band saying: "The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP."

The daughter of the Conservative MP David Amess whose father was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery called for Kneecap to apologise.

In a statement on X, the band said that "an extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action".

They also called some of the backlash a "smear campaign" and said it was "a transparent effort to derail the real conversation" away from their messages of "love" and support for Palestine.

They added: "To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt."

Jo Cox, the former Batley and Spen MP, was killed by far-right terrorist Thomas Mair in 2016, a week before the EU referendum vote

On Tuesday, the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox called on Kneecap to give a "real apology".

Brendan Cox, whose wife was killed in June 2016, said this was "only half an apology".

None of the members of Kneecap have been charged with any offences.

by BoogersHere1690

25 comments

  2. Their manager was great on RTE last night. All this fake outrage is ridiculous. It’s a fuss over nothing, just because they dared to speak out against genocide.

  4. Are they fucking idiots to say dumb shit ( “Kill your MP”, “Up Hamas!”) just to act like hard men? 100%

    Is the British establishment going on a smear campaign against them because of their criticism of Israel and the attention they are bringing to the genocide? I’d say yes.

  5. A reminder that the disgracefully hypocritical ‘board of deputies of Jews’ in the UK has enthusiastically supported the most depraved war crimes and genocide of the Palestinian people for almost 18 months before they uttered a word of criticism of the apartheid regime.

  6. “Citing concerns over ‘dangerous rhetoric,’ glorification of terrorism, and incitement to violence, we insist such acts should not be platformed on Council-owned land,” the party said. “. Bonfires are sweet though.

  7. That’s multiple gigs cancelled now, this is becoming a pattern. I wonder who’ll cancel next(my moneys on Glastonbury). Shouting “*Kill your MP, up Hamas, up Hezbollah*” was a truly stupid thing to say, I can get behind an anti Isreal, anti genocide or anti establishment stance but this was just stupid, plain and simply stupid, and now venue after venue is starting to distance themselves.

    What’s telling is the reflexive defence from certain quarters here. It’s less about free speech and more about tribal loyalty when you strip away all the guff about smear campaigns. Kneecap are clearly seen as political kin, so suddenly even the indefensible must be spun as “*context*” or “*satire*”. It’s a sad indictment of us as a society.

    If they want to make politics part of their brand, fine, that’s their prerogative, but they have to own their shit and so does everyone else.

  8. Seems like folk are more upset about this than say… the war crimes being committed in Gaza.

  9. So it’s ok to actually kill women and children but not ok because someone said something that hurts your feelings?

  10. Considering the videos were from nearly 2 years ago, it really doesn’t appear that anyone was incited to violence or unduly influenced to support proscribed organisations by their comments.

  11. The German concerts are not being cancelled because of the kill Tory’s thing, it’s because of their view on Israel.

    Same with the pressures in the UK, media are climbing all over this to distract from the fact they would rather make a stink about a rap group that said a few words as opposed to a Government and media that has covered up the genocide of Palestine.

  13. They could always start condemning Putin but I have a fair idea they won’t

  14. I find them obnoxious because they are Republicanism fetishists. They are an embarrassment, an Irish tricolour balaclava for fucks sake, calling themselves “Kneecap”, burning RUC vans etc. etc

    Is anyone really impressed by this absolute shite other than gullible youngsters who never had to actually live through it all?

    They have absolutely no authenticity. Their “political statements” are facile and crude. What sort of backing are they getting that they get a film made with Michael Fassbender and end up on stage in the USA at major festivals? It’s not because of their music. Not many working class boys bothered learning Irish when I was growing up in Belfast in the 80s and 90s.

    They’ve fucked it now and I’ve little sympathy for anyone expressing support for Hamas and Hezbollah in public – can’t imagine any context where this is acceptable.

    Before the what-abouterists wade in – no exterminating Palestinians is not ok, no it’s not fine for anyone else to justify the genocide of Gaza. Anyone who does so is a prick, like these absolute weapons are pricks.

  15. There was a singer a few years back advocating for murder on the dancefloor, and then proceeded to threaten to burn the god damn house right down if the DJ ceased playing music. Disgrace

  16. “An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of context”

    Have they tried to give any clarification to what the context was lol? I’d struggle to think of any way you could contextualise that clip in a way that you don’t come out looking like a pair of wankers.

  18. > The Democratic Unionist Party has called for an emergency city council meeting.
    “Citing concerns over ‘dangerous rhetoric,’ glorification of terrorism, and incitement to violence, we insist such acts should not be platformed on Council-owned land,” the party said.

    And **the DUP** said this? The fuckin _norn irony_

  20. British MP’s have for decades sanctioned the murder of Irish citizens in the north. Just today the Secretary of State is challenging the Sean Brown ruling by the Court of Appeal. Call me callous, but british MPs have by and large shown little regard for Irish lives, why should we show any for theirs? 2 MPs killed in relatively recent memory, and suddenly they’re an endangered species? But kill a few hundred irish citizens sure, there’s plenty more paddys to go around. Just don’t admit to it. Lot of fucking hypocrisy in here recently

  21. In light of the above – Some of the more cynical seasoned observers have commented – their *former* PR agency IAG have demonstrated wizardry and proficiency in a particular set of PR dark arts..

    Capable of conjuring something from less than nothing. plucking some dreary non-entities from the furthest reaches of obscurity – the sort most wouldn’t give a second glance to in a crowded room – and inflating them into a thing. A big thing, seemingly, in a way that wouldn’t happen in a million years without their paws all over it.

    A practical demonstration for prospective clients and brands looking for an agency to hitch their wagon to… IAG have certainly proven their salt to the aforementioned..

    Their former PR gurus, the clever little architects of this ascent into minor, fleeting infamy, have scarpered (naturally). They’ve jumped the sinking ship, or perhaps just washing their hands of the glorious mess they helped create. Because now?

    . the carefully constructed edifice has crumbled, leaving behind something utterly toxic.

    They’ve managed to douse themselves in a sort of grade-A, industrial-strength muck and scandal that’s left them utterly radioactive. No-go. Pariahs. 

    No agency will touch ’em with a bargepole They’ll likely be greeted with either a polite but firm or direct and unvarnished..

    https://i.redd.it/jc10hhp6g1ye1.gif

    ..From any door they knock upon from here on in..

  23. Kind of your own fault if what you’re getting smeared with is your own shite.

  24. A debate on cancelling Kneecaps concert at the Boucher Playing Fields would be incredibly interesting to watch

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