BBC defends putting Kneecap on Glastonbury iPlayer - broadcaster cuts lyrics, but leaves attacks on Israel and Keir Starmer intact
The BBC has defended putting Kneecap’s Glastonbury set on iPlayer – editing it to cut out lyrics, but leaving attacks on Israel and the Prime Minister intact.
The broadcaster refused to show the rap trio’s performance live, but put one Kneecap song on its “Glastonbury highlights” package on Saturday night before uploading their full hour-long show to its streaming service on Sunday morning (29th).
Between-song foul-mouthed attacks on Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the band branding Israel a “war criminal” were made available for all to see and hear – but not all Kneecap’s lyrics were.
The iPlayer version cuts the sound at certain points, for example during the band’s 2021 single “Get Your Brits Out”. A comedy shock-rap song about doing drugs with named DUP figures, lines about the party’s former leader Jeffrey Donaldson were edited from the streaming version.
Avon and Somerset police have said they will scour footage of the band’s performance to check if a crime has been committed, and one member of the group – Mo Chara – is currently out on bail on a terror charge due to remarks and actions he was videotaped making on stage in England seven months ago.
Asked why certain parts of the performance were cut while inflammatory remarks that could see the band potentially facing a police probe were left in, a BBC spokesperson replied: “We have made an on-demand version of Kneecap’s performance available on iPlayer, as part of our online collection of more than 90 other sets.
“We have edited it to ensure the content falls within the limits of artistic expression in line with our editorial guidelines and reflects the performance from Glastonbury’s West Holts stage.
“As with all content which includes strong language, this is signposted with appropriate warnings.”
Kneecap mocked the broadcaster both before and during their performance, describing it as “the propaganda wing of the regime” on social media early on Saturday afternoon. On stage, and seeming to believe their show would be heavily cut when it wound up on iPlayer when in fact it was not, they stated “the BBC will have some job editing” their anti-Israel and pro-Palestine comments.