Rock En Seine owner hits out at “deplorable” calls to remove Kneecap from line-up
The owner of the Paris music festival Rock En Seine has called it “deplorable” that French politicians called for Kneecap to be removed from the event.
Kneecap have been removed from a series of festivals across the UK and Europe this summer, including TRNSMT in Glasgow, as well as Germany’s Hurricane and Southside festivals. The Hungarian government also enforced a ban on them entering the country, preventing them from performing at Sziget.
Last month, it was confirmed that the Saint-Cloud town council cut funding to Rock En Seine by €40,000 after the festival refused to remove Kneecap.
Mayor of Saint-Cloud, Éric Berdoati, voted to withdraw the subsidy, saying at the time: “We subsidise cultural initiatives, not political ones. When it’s no longer in line with our objectives, we don’t fund it.”
Additionally, French Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, claimed Kneecap’s upcoming performance at Rock En Seine would “constitute a disturbance of public order” and said “any unrest will be immediately prosecuted”.
According to EuroNews, Caroline Yadan MP contacted Retailleau earlier this month to express her fears about the performance and to call for it to be cancelled. Yadan said: “Culture and music cannot be used to promote Islamist terrorism, support Hezbollah and Hamas, or incite murder and hatred of Jews.”
In response, Rock En Seine’s owner, Matthieu Pigasse, said to the publication: “To claim that supporting the Palestinian cause is a threat to public order is deplorable.”
Additionally, during an interview with Billboard France last week, Pigasse heaped huge praise on the Irish band, stating, “I listen to Kneecap, who I love and who, for me, are the ultimate punk band of the moment. They are today what the Sex Pistols were in the late 70s. If you want to understand what punk is, you listen to Kneecap.”
He also said of his anti-censorship stance: “They will end up banning artists because they have such and such a statement about gender, such and such a statement about sexual freedom, because they have such and such a political statement, because they have such and such a background. We must say no now, immediately. We must not accept the principle of censorship, because otherwise, it will be a wave that will hit festivals and the media.”
Last week, before Kneecap performed at Wythenshawe Park, Manchester, a group of pro-Israel protestors gathered outside of the venue to condemn the group and held signs accusing the trio of “Jew hatred”.
On August 20th, Kneecap’s Mo Chara appeared before Westminster Magistrates’ Court after being charged with a terror offence in May. The judge adjourned the ruling regarding the case, and the musician has been released on unconditional bail ahead of his next hearing on September 26th.
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