British Airways pull Louis Theroux sponsorship after Bob Vylan interview
On October 20th, the frontman of punk duo Bob Vylan appeared on the Louis Theroux podcast to defend the Glastonbury chant “death death to the IDF”. Now, British Airways has pulled its sponsorship from the podcast.
Earlier this summer, the duo played a hugely controversial set on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury, where they criticised the BBC for their complicity in the Palestinian Genocide, condemned the UK and US government, and chanted “death death to the IDF”. The show led to a criminal investigation, as well as the revocation of their US visas and a string of show cancellations.
Earlier this week, their frontman defended their activism. Vylan told Theroux, “Like what if I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes I would do it again. I’m not regretful of it. I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays. I’m not regretful of it at all, like the subsequent backlash that I’ve faced. It’s minimal. It’s minimal compared to what people in Palestine are going through.”
Now, British Airways has withdrawn its adverts from the podcast, saying that the content breached its sponsorship policy. As per The Guardian, a British Airways spokesperson said, “Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed.”
The statement continued, “We’re grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy in relation to politically sensitive or controversial subject matters.”
It finished, “We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don’t occur and we’re investigating how this happened.”
Elsewhere in the podcast, Theroux probed Vylan on the wording of the chant and said a toned-down version, such as “Fuck the IDF”, would “be relatively easy to defend”.
However, Vylan said that it needed to rhyme in order for it to catch on with the crowd, before adding, “Because that is what we are up there to do. We are there to entertain. We are there to play music. I am a lyricist. ‘Death, Death to IDF‘ rhymes. Perfect chant.”
Earlier this week, the duo Bob Vylan announced that they have been forced to reschedule two upcoming shows in Leeds and Manchester, which they say is due to “political pressure”.
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