Bob Vylan have said they are taking legal action against the BBC following the fallout from their controversial Glastonbury 2025 set.
The duo performed on the West Holts Stage at Worthy Farm last June, with their set being streamed live on the BBC. During the performance, frontman Bobby Vylan led the crowd in chants of “free, free Palestine” and “death, death to the IDF”.
The BBC later said it “deeply” regretted that the performance had been broadcast, describing the comments as “anti-Semitic sentiments” that were “utterly unacceptable”. It also said the livestream “should have been pulled” during the set.
Now, Bob Vylan have shared a new statement on Instagram confirming that they are taking legal action against the broadcaster.
“We have decided to take legal action against the BBC,” they wrote. “In the immediate aftermath of our performance at Glastonbury 2025, The BBC wasted no time in placing labels upon us that did not, do not and never will fit.”
They continued: “As a corporation that receives the majority of its funding from the public, it has disappointingly continued to prove how little it represents the interests of the people and our access to unbiased news and information.”
The band went on to accuse the BBC of attempting “to silence those that oppose the heinous crimes taking place in Palestine”, adding that the broadcaster had instead labelled them “as anti-Semitic, editing their speeches, removing their content and even blocking the release of documentaries that challenge the desired narrative of The BBC and it’s top brass.”
“These responses are unacceptable,” they continued. “So seeing the opportunity to remind them the power of the people that they are attempting to silence, we had no choice but to take on this fight. In fact, we take great pleasure in serving them that reminder in court.”
They concluded: “Free Palestine and Justice for the Filton 25.”
The statement comes after reports that both members of Bob Vylan – Bobby Vylan, real name Pascal Robinson-Foster, and drummer Bobbie Vylan, real name Laurence George Wade – have launched separate legal proceedings against the BBC in the High Court in Ireland.
The duo are being represented by the same Belfast-based solicitor that represented Kneecap in their successful legal challenge against the UK government over a blocked arts grant.
In the immediate aftermath of the Glastonbury set, Avon and Somerset Police confirmed that it was assessing footage from both Bob Vylan and Kneecap’s performances “to determine whether any offences may have been committed”.
The police investigation into Bob Vylan was later dropped in December, with the force saying there was “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction”.
Responding at the time, Bob Vylan said the investigation “was never warranted in the first place”.
“For the past 6 months, Avon and Somerset Police have investigated a small segment of a performance that was evidently not hateful, but was a display of solidarity with the Palestinian people,” they said.
The fallout from the Glastonbury performance saw Bob Vylan dropped by their agent, have their US visas revoked and be removed from Manchester’s Radar Festival, with a number of bands later pulling out of the event in response.
The BBC also announced that it would no longer broadcast or livestream performances it deemed “high risk” following the controversy, while Lorna Clarke, the corporation’s director of music, was reported to have stepped back from her day-to-day duties as a result.
In September, the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit partly upheld complaints over the broadcast, finding that it breached editorial guidelines on harm and offence. However, complaints that the set was likely to encourage or incite crime were not upheld, and the broadcast was also cleared of breaching impartiality rules.
In March, police said they were investigating possible new “death to the IDF” chants from Bobby Vylan at a London protest, while Shindig Festival – which had Bob Vylan as one of its headliners this year – had its licence placed under review due to “disorder and public safety” concerns in May.
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