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The frontman Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "not regretful" about his "death, death to the IDF" performance at the festival and asserted he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Disputed Exclamation and Political Responses

This vocal music pair ignited widespread controversy when they initiated audience chants of "down with the IDF," referring to the Israel Defense Forces, during their summer performance. The slogan was censured by Glastonbury and UK Prime Minister the prime minister, who labeled it as "appalling hate speech."

Following the incident, Bob Vylan was released by its representation UTA, and the US government revoked the artists' travel documents, forcing them to cancel a scheduled North American tour.

Conversation with the Podcaster

During his first interview since the Glastonbury performance, the musician, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, spoke on The Louis Theroux Podcast. When asked if he would do it all again, he replied:

"Oh yeah. For instance suppose I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, definitely I would repeat it. I'm not regretful of it. I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

He noted that the backlash the band encountered was "small compared to what people in Gaza are going through."

Regarding the Protest's Significance

"I don't want to exaggerate the significance of the chant," he elaborated. "That's not what I'm attempting to do, but if I have the Palestinian people's support, they're the individuals that I'm doing it for, these are the individuals that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to regret? Well, because I've upset some rightwing politician or some rightwing news outlet?"

Surprising Response and Broadcaster Comments

This musician said he was surprised by the uproar triggered by the exclamation, and asserted that members of BBC employees at Glastonbury told him on the same day that the performance was "excellent."

However, the broadcaster's ECU later determined that the network's broadcast of the performance violated editorial guidelines in relation to harm and offence.

Vylan informed the host there was no indication of a dispute in the moment: "It didn't feel like we came off stage, and everyone was like [shocked]. It's just normal. We leave stage. It was normal. Nobody suspected anything. Nobody. Including staff at the BBC were like 'That was fantastic! We enjoyed that!'"

Reply to Blur Frontman

Vylan also responded at the Blur singer, who labeled the protest "a major misstep I've witnessed in my life" and characterized him as "marching in tennis gear."

Albarn's reaction was "disappointing" and "showed no self-awareness," Vylan remarked.

"I just want to say that labeling it as a 'spectacular misfire' implies that somehow the views of the band or our stance on Palestine's freedom is unplanned," he explained.

"I strongly object with the term 'marching' being used because it's typically associated around the Nazis," he added. "That's it. And for him to use that wording, I think is offensive. I think his answer was disgusting."

Meaning Behind the Chant

After asked what he intended by the chant "Down with the IDF," the artist clarified the chant itself was "insignificant."

"The key issue is the situation that persist to allow that protest to even occur on that stage. And I mean, the circumstances that are present in the region. In which the Palestinian population are being killed at an alarming rate. Who cares about the slogan?" he said.

"Death to the IDF rhymes," he noted: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, right? … We are there to perform. We are there to play music. I am a lyricist. 'Death, Death to IDF' rhymes. Perfect chant."

Denial of Hate Speech Claims

The musician also rejected assertions from the CST, a monitoring and Jewish safety organisation, that their performance led to a spike in antisemitic events recorded two days.

"I don't think I have created an hostile atmosphere for the Jewish people. If there were many individuals of people acting and saying 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I could go, oh, I've had a bad impact here," he said.

Contrast with Different Bands

As Vylan mentioned he felt the band had been criticised more severely than different artists for speaking about the conflict, the host referenced the Irish band Kneecap, who have also encountered backlash for their approach to pro-Palestine messaging.

"That's an interesting one," Vylan said, "since as with everything ethnicity comes to play a part in that we are an more convenient villain, seriously, than others are because we are inherently the opponent."