Bob Vylan hit back at “spineless” BBC chief Tim Davie after he called Glastonbury set “antisemitic” to MPs
Bob Vylan have hit back at the BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, after he declared their performance at Glastonbury “antisemitic” to MPs.
BBC director general Davie addressed their Glastonbury performance to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in Westminster, along with other criticisms of the broadcaster, including their handling of Masterchef.
At one stage, he was probed about the BBC live-streaming Bob Vylan’s set from Glastonbury on iPlayer after Bury North MP, James Frith, alleged the band whipped the crowd into an “antisemitic frenzy”.
Notably, during the performance, lead singer Bobby Vylan led the crowd through a chant of “Death to the IDF,” in reference to the Israeli Defence Force. This was broadcast live on BBC iPlayer and was available to watch back on the platform until it was taken down hours after their set.
Davie told MPs of his handling of the situation, “I don’t think I misread it, I just got there (to Glastonbury) when I heard about it (at) about five o’clock … the performance was well done by then, and at that point I knew absolutely that it was an antisemitic broadcast.”
Davie continued: “So, my decision was to get that off on demand, simple as that, I mean, it wasn’t too complicated in my mind, and to your point, I do think it was deeply disturbing, deeply disturbing.”
The director general said that the BBC made “a very significant mistake” in broadcasting the performance on iPlayer.
In response, he band wrote on X: “Tim Davie is a spineless puppet. There was nothing antisemitic or criminal about anything I said at Glastonbury. Why do you think Metropoltian Police and Avon and Somerset Police are taking so long?”
They then discussed the former head of music at the BBC, Lorna Clarke. Following Glastonbury, it was reported by The Times that Clarke had stepped back from her role amid the controversy related to Bob Vylan’s set at Worthy Farm.
The punk duo continued: “Lorna Clarke, a Black woman, was so quickly dismissed from her duties after Glastonbury. Why? Someone had to fall and who easier to take it than a Black woman. But now he’s getting grilled and is showing just how incompetent and bought HE is.”
Bob Vylan then claimed, “And the reason it wasn’t cut immediately is not because of some oversight at the BBC as they keep making out, but because there was nothing antisemitic about the performance. “
They concluded the thread by writing, “As a matter of fact I know there were staff at the BBC that loved the performance and saw nothing wrong with it until they were told there was something it wrong with it. I also know some other bits and pieces but let me just (zipped mouth emoji)”.
Despite an ongoing investigation, Bob Vylan are yet to be charged with any offence.
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