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Toronto Sun
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
First Nations leaders urge cancellation of rap group accused of antisemitism
Irish group Kneecap, subject to U.K. terror investigations, playing sold-out shows in Vancouver, Toronto this year Rich Peppiatt, Naoise ó Cairealláin, DJ Provaí and Mo Chara of Kneecap pose on arrival at the Britain Independent Film Awards on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024, in London. Photo by Thomas Krych / Invision/AP OTTAWA — Indigenous leaders across Canada have joined calls for the cancellation of Canadian shows by an Irish rap group accused of antisemitism. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Kneecap, an Irish trio known for their radical activism, are slated to perform four sold-out Canadian shows in Toronto and Vancouver in October — concerts many want cancelled. 'They make statements, they display the Palestinian flag in their concerts and they say, 'Death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces),' and glorifying those who are anti-Israel to the point where they're taking lives,' said Eabametoong First Nation Chief Harvey Yesno in an interview with the Toronto Sun. 'We need to draw a line because, yes, we have freedom of speech, but our country of Canada has laws.' Read More Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Yesno is among nine Indigenous leaders who have signed a letter calling for the cancellation of Kneecap's Canadian shows — pointing out the group's allegedly overt antisemitism and support of Palestinian terror organizations not only violate Canadian law, but also treaties between Canada's First Nations and the Crown. 'By allowing Kneecap to perform on Indigenous lands, Live Nation and the MRG Group are not only endorsing rhetoric that promotes division, hate and glorification of terror — they are violating the spirit and obligations of the Treaties of Peace and Friendship,' the letter says. 'These treaties are not confined to government institutions; they govern how we, as treaty partners, must relate to one another across all areas of society.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Toronto Sun's request for a comment from LiveNation went unacknowledged and federal government officials have shown little interest in commenting on the issue. Based in Belfast, Kneecap's performance last month at the Glastonbury music festival in the U.K. and Coachella in April sparked furor after they accused Israel of conducting a so-called 'genocide' in Gaza, while platforming anti-Israel and allegedly antisemitic statements. RECOMMENDED VIDEO Kneecap's Glastonbury performance, along with a set by English punk duo Bob Vylan that led to accusations of antisemitism, is now the subject of a criminal investigation by U.K. police. Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, 27, was charged with terror offences for waving a Hezbollah flag during a London show in 2024. Antisemitic chants like, 'There is only one solution: Intifada revolution,' are common at Kneecap shows, the letter says — adding it closely parallels hatred Indigenous Peoples experienced in Canada. 'It echoes language used by the Canadian government in the 1910s and by the Nazi regime during World War II,' the letter says. 'Its callous adoption in modern settings should cause any Indigenous person, and any non-Indigenous Canadian with a shared understanding of our history, to shudder at its public repetition and celebration.' bpassifiume@ X: @bryanpassifiume NFL Editorial Cartoons Toronto & GTA Toronto & GTA Columnists
Jordan Times
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Jordan Times
Kneecap ‘unfazed' by legal problems, says friend and director
PARIS — Irish rappers Kneecap are 'unfazed' by their legal problems and controversies kicked up by their anti-Israel pro-Palestinian statements, friend and film director Rich Peppiatt told AFP. Peppiatt helped create the Kneecap phenomenon with his 2024 semi-fictionalised film about the hip-hop group from Belfast, who are now playing major festivals around the world. The trio made headlines by projecting the words 'F..k Israel, Free Palestine' during their gig at US festival Coachella in April, while lyricist Mo Chara is set to appear in a London court on a terror charge on Wednesday. Chara, whose real name is Liam Og O Hannaidh, is accused of displaying a flag of Lebanon-based and anti-Israel group Hizbollah — a banned organisation — at a gig last year. 'Even through all the controversy at the moment, they just shrug their shoulders and get on with it,' Peppiatt told AFP. 'They are just completely unfazed by anything.' The former journalist first encountered Kneecap in a pub in Belfast in 2019 and was struck by their local fanbase, eventually convincing Chara, Moglai Bap and DJ Provai to appear in the movie about their lives. 'They've always been controversial at a local level, and they've always bounced back from it,' Peppiatt continued. 'The amount of times in the last six years I've heard 'that's the end of Kneecap' because of something they've said or done, and all it's done is propelled them to the next level,' he said. Kneecap started out as an overtly political project, with the group singing in Irish in defence of their language and protesting British rule in Northern Ireland. Their high-energy gigs, prolific drug-taking and the violent undercurrent of Belfast life were captured in Peppiatt's film 'Kneecap', which premiered at the Sundance film festival in 2024 to rave reviews. The dark comedy, music and occasional surrealist digression means it has been frequently compared to 1996 hit 'Trainspotting', which Peppiatt mentions as an influence. Drawing an estimated 6 million people to cinemas worldwide on a budget of just £3 million ($4 million), it was a debut hit for the London-born director. 'You certainly don't make a film about an Irish-language rap band no one's heard of, and who have never released an album, thinking it's going to be a hit,' Peppiatt, who recently obtained Irish nationality through his wife, told AFP. But he says it tapped into larger themes that people identify with, from the loss of local languages to the struggle in many countries against colonial-era influences. 'One useful thing about British colonialism is that when you've taken over a third of the world, if you make a film 50 or 100 years later, and it's all about 'fuck the British', you find an audience for it,' he joked. As for the question of whether his film created Kneecap the band, or whether the band made his film, he said it was a bit of both. 'I felt that they were going to break through. Obviously the film's accelerated that,' he said. Kneecap the film will hit screens in France and South Korea on Wednesday in the final stages of its international release. Kneecap's support for the Palestinian cause and their denunciation of Israel's devastating war in Gaza, Peppiatt said, was in line with Irish public opinion. 'There's always been a very close connection between the Irish cause and the Palestinian cause,' he said. 'Where they're from in West Belfast, there are as many Irish flags as there are Palestinian flags.' But critics see the group as going too far and accuse them of embracing violent extremists. One video of a gig appears to show a band member shouting 'Up Hamas, up Hizbollah'. Another from a 2023 performance, which was also assessed by British police, appears to show one of them urging fans to kill British lawmakers, leading to a public apology to the families of murdered MPs. Kneecap have called on fans to show up outside court on Wednesday in support of Chara and have labelled his prosecution 'political policing'. Peppiatt told AFP he did not always agree with the way the group expressed themselves. 'Where they slipped up for me at Coachella was saying 'fuck Israel', that's a very broad statement to make that incorporated a lot of people who don't believe in what's happening there [in Gaza],' he said. 'When you're friends with people you're allowed to disagree, and I do disagree with them on some things.'
Malay Mail
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Kneecap won't be silenced: Belfast rappers stand firm amid looming Hezbollah flag case and backlash over pro-Palestine stance
PARIS, June 17 — Irish rappers Kneecap are 'unfazed' by their legal problems and controversies kicked up by their anti-Israel pro-Palestinian statements, friend and film director Rich Peppiatt told AFP. Peppiatt helped create the Kneecap phenomenon with his 2024 semi-fictionalised film about the hip-hop group from Belfast, who are now playing major festivals around the world. The trio made headlines by projecting the words 'Fuck Israel, Free Palestine' during their gig at US festival Coachella in April, while lyricist Mo Chara is set to appear in a London court on a terror charge on Wednesday. Chara, whose real name is Liam Og O Hannaidh, is accused of displaying a flag of Lebanon-based and anti-Israel militant group Hezbollah — a banned organisation — at a gig last year. 'Even through all the controversy at the moment, they just shrug their shoulders and get on with it,' Peppiatt told AFP. 'They are just completely unfazed by anything.' The former journalist first encountered Kneecap in a pub in Belfast in 2019 and was struck by their local fanbase, eventually convincing Chara, Moglai Bap and DJ Provai to appear in the movie about their lives. 'They've always been controversial at a local level, and they've always bounced back from it,' Peppiatt continued. 'The amount of times in the last six years I've heard 'that's the end of Kneecap' because of something they've said or done, and all it's done is propelled them to the next level,' he said. British colonialism Kneecap started out as an overtly political project, with the group singing in Irish in defence of their language and protesting British rule in Northern Ireland. Their high-energy gigs, prolific drug-taking and the violent undercurrent of Belfast life were captured in Peppiatt's film 'Kneecap', which premiered at the Sundance film festival in 2024 to rave reviews. The dark comedy, music and occasional surrealist digression means it has been frequently compared to 1996 hit 'Trainspotting', which Peppiatt mentions as an influence. Drawing an estimated six million people to cinemas worldwide on a budget of just £3 million (RM17 million), it was a debut hit for the London-born director. 'You certainly don't make a film about an Irish-language rap band no one's heard of, and who have never released an album, thinking it's going to be a hit,' Peppiatt, who recently obtained Irish nationality through his wife, told AFP. But he says it tapped into larger themes that people identify with, from the loss of local languages to the struggle in many countries against colonial-era influences. 'One useful thing about British colonialism is that when you've taken over a third of the world, if you make a film 50 or 100 years later, and it's all about 'fuck the British', you find an audience for it,' he joked. As for the question of whether his film created Kneecap the band, or whether the band made his film, he said it was a bit of both. 'I felt that they were going to break through. Obviously the film's accelerated that,' he said. Kneecap the film will hit screens in France and South Korea on Wednesday in the final stages of its international release. Palestinian cause Kneecap's support for the Palestinian cause and their denunciation of Israel's devastating war in Gaza, Peppiatt said, was in line with Irish public opinion. 'There's always been a very close connection between the Irish cause and the Palestinian cause,' he said. 'Where they're from in West Belfast, there are as many Irish flags as there are Palestinian flags.' But critics see the group as going too far and accuse them of embracing violent extremists. One video of a gig appears to show a band member shouting 'Up Hamas, up Hezbollah'. Another from a 2023 performance, which was also assessed by British police, appears to show one of them urging fans to kill British lawmakers, leading to a public apology to the families of murdered MPs. Kneecap have called on fans to show up outside court on Wednesday in support of Chara and have labelled his prosecution 'political policing'. Peppiatt told AFP he did not always agree with the way the group expressed themselves. 'Where they slipped up for me at Coachella was saying 'fuck Israel', that's a very broad statement to make that incorporated a lot of people who don't believe in what's happening there (in Gaza),' he said. 'When you're friends with people you're allowed to disagree, and I do disagree with them on some things.' — AFP
Irish Post
10-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Post
Kneecap claim top prize at prestigious annual film festival
KNEECAP have claimed the top prize at the annual Celtic Media Festival. The rap trio were announced as the Spirit of the Festival winners at the event held in Cornwall this month. Written, produced and directed by Rich Peppiatt, the film is a semi-autobiographical offering, which follows the west-Belfast based group on their mission to save the Irish language. The film stars the band's Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí in their acting debuts alongside Academy Award nominated Michael Fassbender, Simone Kirby and Josie Walker. Earlier this year, Director Rich Peppiatt received an IFTA and a BAFTA for the film. Their latest award was announced over the weekend, during the three-day event in Newquay. 'These awards follow a year and a half of incredible success for Kneecap, the movie since the premiere and Audience Award at Sundance in January 2024,' said Proinsias Ní Ghráinne, Commissioning Editor for the Irish language station TG4, who are the broadcast partner for the film. 'Kneecap has brought the Irish language to the most important stages of the world as a powerful creative channel that speaks to indigenous cultures, music lovers and anyone who appreciates good storytelling,' she added. 'TG4's commitment to support this wave of excellence in both scripted and non-scripted content is unwavering. 'It is particularly rewarding to see our content stand up to competition from the best of the best from the Celtic Nations. Comhghairdeas Kneecap.' The award comes in the same month that Kneecap member Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs as Mo Chara, is due to appear before a court in London charged with a terror offence. In May the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command charged the band member over a Palestinian flag displayed at a show at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London on November 21, 2024. The force said that the 27-year-old displayed the flag "in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation, namely Hezbollah". He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court next Wednesday, June 18. See More: Celtic Media Festival, Kneecap
Irish Daily Mirror
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Kneecap scoops Spirit of the Festival honour at the Celtic Media Awards
Kneecap have won the top prize at this year's Celtic Media Awards. The Belfast rappers were awarded the Spirit of the Festival for their film in Cornwall. The Spirit of the Festival is a three-day celebration of film, television, radio and digital media, which promotes languages and cultures of the Celtic nations and regions. Directed by Rich Peppiatt, Kneecap is set in west Belfast in 2019 and tells the story of how the group, consisting of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí, formed and went on to "change the sound of Irish music forever". It also stars Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender, Simone Kirby, Jessica Reynolds and Fionnuala Flaherty. TG4 is the broadcast partner for Kneecap, and the channel's Commissioning Editor, Proinsias Ní Ghráinne, said that this honour follows "a year and a half of incredible success for Kneecap" since the film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024, where it won the coveted Audience Award. "Kneecap has brought the Irish language to the most important stages of the world as a powerful creative channel that speaks to indigenous cultures, music lovers and anyone who appreciates good storytelling," Ní Ghráinne said. "TG4's commitment to support this wave of excellence in both scripted and non-scripted content is unwavering. It is particularly rewarding to see our content stand up to competition from the best of the best from the Celtic Nations. Comhghairdeas Kneecap." It comes after Kneecap member Liam Og O hAnnaidh who performs as Mo Chara, was charged by Metropolitan Police with a terror offence after he allegedly displayed a Hezbollah flag at a gig last November.
