'Antisemitic' British band banned from US after viral 'death to the IDF' festival chants
The State Department has revoked the visas for members of the Bob Vylan band, after the British punk-rap duo called for "death to the IDF" during a Saturday performance in England's Glastonbury Music Festival.
The band Bob Vylan, made up of two musicians with the stage names Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan, is slated to tour the U.S. later in 2025. But the State Department announced Monday it had pulled the visas for the band's members after the group led chants calling for the end of the Israel Defense Forces.
"Bob Vylan's visas have been revoked," a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital Monday. "The Secretary of State has been clear — the U.S. will not approve visas for terrorist sympathizers."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously has issued multiple warnings that the State Department will rescind visas for "terrorists" and those affiliated with them.
For example, Rubio said in June 2 X post after the antisemitic terror attack in Boulder, Colorado, that all "terrorists, their family members, and terrorist sympathizers" in the U.S. on a visa would have their visa revoked and face deportation.
During the Glastonbury, England, performance, Bobby Vylan also led the crowd with chants of "Free, Free, Free Palestine," and wrapped up the chant saying "Hell yeah, from the river to the sea. Palestine must be, will be inshallah, it will be free."
In response, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that "there is no excuse for this kind of appalling hate speech," according to the BBC.
Meanwhile, Bobby Vylan appeared to double down on his statements during the Glastonbury performance, and wrote in a social media post Sunday: "I said what I said."
"It is incredibly important that we encourage and inspire future generations to pick up the torch that was passed to us," Bobby Vylan said in a Sunday Instagram post. "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, organizing online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered."
Additionally, the BBC issued a Monday statement apologizing for continuing to air Bob Vylan's performance live, and condemned the antisemitic chants during the performance.
"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 BBC said in a Monday statement. "The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence. The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves."
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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