Gary Lineker wades into Bob Vylan row as he makes stance clear
Gary Lineker has made his stance clear on the controversy surrounding Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance.
The rap duo sparked outrage by chanting “death to the IDF” during Saturday’s set.
The performance also featured the controversial chant “from the river to the sea”, and calls to “free Palestine”.
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.”
Following the controversy, the punk duo shared a cryptic Instagram message, seemingly written by Robinson-Foster.
In the Sunday post, he recalled how his daughter had asked for healthier school dinners using it as a springboard to stress the importance of teaching young people to speak up for change, in what appeared to be a defence of his actions during the set.
“Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place,” he wrote.
He spoke of passing the torch to younger generations, adding: “Let us display to them loudly and visibly the right thing to do when we want and need change.
“Let them see us marching in the streets, campaigning on ground level, organising online and shouting about it on any and every stage that we are offered. Today it is a change in school dinners, tomorrow it is a change in foreign policy.”
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In an apparent show of support for the duo, Gary Lineker liked the Instagram post – a move that came as no surprise to eagle-eyed users on social media.
Critics quickly voiced their disapproval, including journalist Stephen Pollard, who accused Lineker of endorsing a “man who led a death chant against Jews.”
Pollard wrote sarcastically on X: “I’m stunned to see Gary Lineker liking a post by a man who led a death chant against Jews. I would never have predicted it.”
Actress Tracy-Ann Oberman echoed the sentiment, adding: “Stunned I say!” followed by a laughing emoji.
Others weighed in, with one user writing, “I’m not surprised at all,” while another added, “Lineker can’t help himself by this stage, can he?”
Lineker resigned from the BBC in May following an antisemitism row, which erupted after he shared a post from the group Palestine Lobby to over one million followers on Instagram.
The repost, which he later deleted, contained a video criticising Zionism and included an illustration of a rat.
This led to widespread calls for the BBC to drop the presenter, with the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism stating they were submitting a complaint to the corporation.
Lineker apologised for the post five days before news of his departure broke, expressing regret about how it was interpreted.
The presenter reportedly then met with BBC bosses where it was agreed he would step down.
Bob Vylan’s performance is now the subject of a criminal investigation by Avon and Somerset Police.
In the wake of the backlash, United Talent Agency dropped the pair and they have also had their US visas revoked as they were scheduled for an America tour later this year.