BBC admits it should have pulled Bob Vylan Glastonbury performance after ‘unacceptable and antisemitic’ remarks

The BBC has said they should have pulled Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance, after they led the festival crowds in chants including ‘death to the IDF’.

On Saturday the English punk duo – which includes frontman Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan on drums – took to the festival’s West Holts Stage ahead of Kneecap.

During their set, they led festival-goers in chants calling for the end of the Israeli Defence Force and to ‘free, free Palestine’.

Soon after police said they were reviewing footage from the Worthy Farm performance to determine whether any offences had been committed.

The BBC has now issued a statement saying they made the wrong call in displaying a warning message on the stream, instead of pulling it from transmission altogether.

The statement from a BBC spokesperson said that while millions tuned in to the Glastonbury coverage on the BBC, ‘one performance within our livestreams included comments that were deeply offensive’.

‘The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence,’ the statement continued.

‘The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves. We welcome Glastonbury’s condemnation of the performance.’

The statement then explained that the judgment on Saturday was to issue a warning on screen ‘while streaming online was in line with our editorial guidelines’.

‘In addition, we took the decision not to make the performance available on demand. The team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance. We regret this did not happen,’ the statement read.

‘In light of this weekend, we will look at our guidance around live events so we can be sure teams are clear on when it is acceptable to keep output on air.’

It comes after the broadcasting regulator Ofcom issued a statement on the BBC’s coverage of Bob Vylan’s performance at Glastonbury.

‘We are very concerned about the live stream of this performance, and the BBC clearly has questions to answer,’ the statement began.

‘We have been speaking to the BBC over the weekend and we are obtaining further information as a matter of urgency, including what procedures were in place to ensure compliance with its own editorial guidelines.’

Ofcom’s involvement at this stage is an unusual move, given that the BBC has its own complaints process, which complainants must typically go through before they can be escalated to Ofcom.

The Ofcom guidance for BBC complaints states that it is only in ‘exceptional circumstances’ that Ofcom can circumvent the BBC’s complaints process.

The example given on the Ofcom website for such circumstances is ‘if the BBC broadcast content involving potentially serious harm to the public’.

Avon and Somerset police shared a statement on social media after the performance, saying they were ‘aware of the comments’ from the West Holts Stage.

They added: ‘Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation.’

Bob Vylan frontman Bobby has since doubled down on the duo’s performance in spite of the backlash, posting a statement with the caption: ‘I said what I said.’

‘As I lay in bed this morning, my phone buzzing non-stop, inundated with messages of both support and hatred, I listen to my daughter typing out loud as she fills out a school survey asking her for feedback on the current state of her school dinners,’ he began.

‘She expressed that she would like healthier meals, more options and dishes inspired by other parts of the world.

‘Listening to her voice her opinions on a matter that she cares about and affects her daily reminds me that we may not be doomed after all. Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place.

‘As we grow older and our fire possibly starts to dim under the suffocation of adult life and all its responsibilities, it is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us.

‘Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change. Let them see us marching in the streets, campaigning on ground level, organising online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered. Today it is a change in school dinners, tomorrow it is a change in foreign policy.’

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