The BBC has issued a formal apology and announced it will no longer be live-streaming “high-risk” music acts after punk rap duo Bob Vylan’s controversial Glastonbury Festival performance on Saturday (June 28).
According to Variety, director-general Tim Davie addressed BBC staff in an internal memo on Thursday, July 3, writing, “I deeply regret that such offensive and deplorable behavior appeared on the BBC and want to say sorry – to our audience and to all of you, but in particular to Jewish colleagues and the Jewish community. We are unequivocal that there can be no place for antisemitism at the BBC.”
The memo followed the controversy surrounding Bob Vylan’s performance at the iconic music festival on Saturday, which was live-streamed on the BBC’s iPlayer service. During the set, the band’s frontman, Bobby Vylan, voiced his support for Palestine, leading the crowd in chants of “Free, free Palestine” and “Death, death to the IDF (Israel Defense Forces).”
Bob Vylan released a statement on July 1, noting their calls of “death to the IDF” were about ending a “violent military machine,” not specific Jewish individuals.
“We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs, or any other race or group of people,” the duo wrote in a post on Instagram. “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.”
Following the backlash, Glastonbury organizer Emily Eavis shared a statement, saying Bob Vylan’s words on stage “very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”
In light of the controversy, the BBC has stated that any musical performances deemed high risk will no longer be broadcast or streamed live. Bob Vylan and several other acts were considered “high risk,” though most, other than the Irish hip hop trio Kneecap, were deemed suitable for live streaming with “appropriate mitigations,” including on-screen warnings and censoring of certain profanities. Kneecap’s performance was recorded and aired later in the day.
“Prior to Glastonbury, a decision was taken that compliance risks could be mitigated in real time on the live stream – through the use of language or content warnings – without the need for a delay. This was clearly not the case,” the BBC said in a statement.