Jeremy Clarkson, 65, rips into Irish band Kneecap’s ‘grovelling’ apology as he calls for group NOT to be cancelled
Jeremy Clarkson has issued a brutal put down of divisive band Kneecap after they apologised for their incendiary “kill your MP” chant.
The 65-year-old writer and broadcaster compared the Irish group to controversial acts of the past in disparaging their “grovelling” apology.
In a controversial video from November 2023, a Kneecap member appeared to chant “the only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP” during a concert.
The moment sparked fury prompted a counter-terrorism police investigation and condemnation from both Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
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Counter-terrorism police are also examining footage from another concert in November 2024 where a member allegedly shouted “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” – groups proscribed as terrorist organisations in the UK.
Neither video has resulted in charges thus far against any of the trio, who are Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh.
The group’s July gig at Cornwall’s Eden Project was cancelled with questions still hanging over their planned Glastonbury appearance..
In a lengthy statement posted to X, Kneecap directly apologised to the families of murdered MPs Sir David Amess and Jo Cox, adding: “We never intended to cause you hurt.”
KNEECAP STATEMENT:
They want you to believe words are more harmful than genocide.
Establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral… pic.twitter.com/qZht5532Zf
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 28, 2025
They also claimed to “reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual” and denied supporting Hamas and Hezbollah.
However, they also claimed to have been subject to “coordinated smear campaign” after the footage had been “exploited and weaponised” after being “deliberately taken out of context”.
Clarkson was less than impressed with the apology, even though he came out to defend Kneecap in his column for The Sun.
The former Top Gear presenter sardonically observed their “call to murder MPs” had not “gone down well” but fumed at the institutional and cancellations.
“I don’t hold with this at all,” he wrote.
The 65-year-old noted: “They’re a band and causing outrage is what bands used to do all the time. It’s what they are supposed to do. Be angry.”
Clarkson extoled the need for band’s to “make a noise” and “say inappropriate things” while accusing some of “forgetting” legendary groups like the Sex Pistols, who were intensely divisive in their day.
“I absolutely support Kneecap’s right to say what they want,” he declared, but added the caveat: “I cannot support though is their grovelling apology.”
“You’re a band, for God’s sake. You swash your buckle and you carry on regardless,” Clarkson despaired.
Once again drawing from controversial acts from the past, the former Top Gear presenter remembered them not being compelled to apologise for “all the horrible things” they said about US President Richard Nixon.
“Nor should they have done,” the former Grand Tour host concluded.