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Kneecap Concerts Canceled in Germany Following Pro-Palestine Messaging at Coachella
Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap continue to face backlash for their pro-Palestine, anti-Israel statements made at Coachella 2025, resulting in a total of five concerts in Germany being canceled as of April 30th. At the same time, they’ve garnered support from several UK acts, including Massive Attack and artists signed to Kneecap’s label, Heavenly Recordings.
Last week, the group’s June appearances at Hurricane Festival and Southside Festival were pulled, reportedly without explanation. While Kneecap initially directed fans to scheduled headlining shows in Hamburg, Berlin, and Cologne after confirming the festival cancellations, those concerts have now also been canceled.
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The cancellations may be linked to Germany’s strict hate speech laws. As The Hollywood Reporter points out, the pro-Palestinian slogan “From the river to the sea” has been interpreted by some German courts as anti-Israel hate speech and thus deemed a criminal offense in some states, including Berlin. If you recall, a Roger Waters concert in Frankfurt, Germany scheduled in 2023 was canceled for similar reasons.
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Separately, the UK’s Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit has launched an investigation into statements allegedly made by Kneecap in 2023 and 2024, in which they called for the death of Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) and expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah. At one concert, a member allegedly said, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP,” and at another, a member allegedly shouted, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” The UK government considers Hamas a terrorist organization, and prohibits the support of terrorist groups by law.
In response to the investigation, Kneecap have released a statement clarifying they “do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah.” They also apologized to the families of two MPs who were killed in recent years, one by an ISIS supporter and the other by a neo-Nazi.
They added, “The real crimes are not in our performances; the real crimes are the silence and complicity of those in power.” The group has also claimed they are facing a “coordinated smear campaign” following news of the investigation by the UK police and government.
Several UK acts have expressed their support for Kneecap, particularly in the wake of the police investigation. In an Instagram post, trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack criticized the focus on Kneecap’s comments instead of the crisis in Gaza. “Do politicians and right-wing journalists strategically concocting moral outrage over the stage utterings of a young punk band, while simultaneously obfuscating or even ignoring a genocide happening in real time (including the killing of journalists in unprecedented numbers) have any right to intimidate festival events into acts of political censorship?” they wrote.
The Bristol band continued, “Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story. And the silence, acquiescence, and support of those crimes against humanity by the elected British government is the real story.”
Heavenly Recordings, Kneecap’s label, also released an open letter defending the group’s freedom of expression against what it described as a “clear, concerted attempt to censor and ultimately de-platform the band,” potentially influenced by figures within the music industry. “The question of agreeing with Kneecap’s political views is irrelevant: it is in the key interests of every artist that all creative expression be protected in a society that values culture, and that this interference campaign is condemned and ridiculed,” it reads.
The letter has been signed by more than 40 prominent artists, including Pulp, English Teacher, Fontaines D.C., IDLES, Primal Scream, The Pogues, Massive Attack, Sleaford Mods, and more.
Amid the controversy, Kneecap’s music has seen a surge in popularity. According to Billboard, their weekly US on-demand streams nearly doubled in the two weeks following their Coachella sets, rising from 431,000 to 852,000.
For those who aren’t familiar with the initial controversy, Kneecap’s set at Coachella weekend one included “Free Palestine” and anti-Margaret Thatcher chants, which were cut from the official live stream. During the second weekend, which was not livestreamed, they went a step further by bringing out streamer Hasan Piker to broadcast their protest and displaying the words “Fuck Israel, free Palestine” on the screens behind them. Following their sets, public outrage poured in, including from Sharon Osbourne, who called for their work visas to be rescinded.
Read the full statements from Kneecap, Massive Attack, and Heavenly Recordings below.
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