BBC boss was at Glastonbury during Bob Vylan’s ‘death to IDF’ chant
BBC Director-General Tim Davie is understood to have been in attendance at Glastonbury on Saturday during Bob Vylan’s performance, where the rap duo sparked outrage by chanting “death to the IDF.”
Davie was made aware of the chant shortly after it happened and took immediate action to ensure the performance would not be made available on demand.
However, despite this decision, the set remained on BBC iPlayer for another five hours.
Sources indicated that removing the livestream altogether was never discussed at the time, he Telegraph reports.
A BBC spokesperson later admitted that, with hindsight, the broadcast should have been pulled entirely.
“Tim was there for a few hours to see the team. He was made aware during the time he was there of what had been said on stage. He intervened to make sure the performance was not made available on demand and he was very clear about that,” a BBC source said.
“Pulling the livestream brings certain technological challenges. With hindsight, we would have taken it down. He would have asked what the options were, but it isn’t as straightforward as hitting a button and taking it down.”
The performance also featured the controversial chant “from the river to the sea”, a phrase some interpret as a call for the destruction of the Jewish state.
During the same set, frontman Pascal Robinson-Foster – also known as Bobby Vylan – told the crowd: “We are not pacifist punks here over at Bob Vylan Enterprises. We are the violent punks, because sometimes, you have to get your message across with violence because that is the only language some people speak.”
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In the wake of the backlash, United Talent Agency dropped Bob Vylan following emergency discussions among senior executives, according to industry sources.
The pair have also had their US visas revoked as they were scheduled for an America tour later this year.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau confirmed the visa cancellations on Monday, saying: “Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country.”
Meanwhile, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy weighed in on the BBC’s handling of the broadcast during a Commons session, suggesting the incident reflected a deeper issue of leadership.
“When you have one editorial failure, it’s something that must be gripped. When you have several, it becomes a problem of leadership,” she said.
Nandy was responding to a question from Peter Prinsley, MP for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket, who condemned the BBC’s editorial oversight.
“The murder of hundreds of Jews at the Nova music festival in October 2023 sparked this war. The irony of broadcast antisemitism at Glastonbury here in the UK is not lost on any of us,” he said.
“So how are Jews, such as myself, in this country to be reassured about the editorial processes of the BBC? And who on Earth will be held accountable for this error?”
In response, Nandy said that accountability was, “an extremely important point” and something she had “impressed upon the BBC leadership.”
“Following the completion of that assessment process we have decided further enquiries are required and a criminal investigation is now being undertaken,” police said in a statement.