The Irish rap group Kneecap continued to ignite controversy at Coachella’s second weekend by criticizing Israel for its ongoing war in Gaza and leading a “free Palestine” chant during their set. The band also projected anti-Israel messages on the Sonora tent backdrop.
The projections were apparently also used during the festival’s first weekend and led to the livestream of the band’s set being cut off; on the second weekend, the Sonora tent’s sets were not livestreamed, presumably due to those messages.
“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” the projections read. “It is being enabled by the U.S. government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. Fuck Israel; free Palestine.”
While the outcry during weekend one was relatively limited, on weekend two it was much larger. Multiple commentators online called for Coachella organizers Goldenvoice and parent company AEG Presents to comment.
Reps for the two companies did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment.
Last week, the band claimed on X that Coachella had censored their protest, but assured the festival over social media that they would be “back next Friday” and it would “be sorted.” During their weekend two set, the band started a “free, free Palestine chant,” and stated “the Irish are not so longer persecuted under the Brits, but we were never bombed under the fucking skies with nowhere to go.”
Kneecap were not the only artists to display pro-Palestinian messages at the festival; British punk duo Bob Vylan displayed a Palestinian flag during their set weekend one and commented on Gaza as well. That group also performed in the Sonora tent; it is unclear whether it voiced similar messages
Former Justin Bieber/Ariana Grande manager Scooter Braun, who last year staged an exhibit in Israel and Los Angeles about Hamas’ October 7 attacks in Israel, defended Goldenvoice founder Paul Tollett on social media.
“This is my friend Paul Tollett, the founder of [Coachella],” Braun wrote in an Instagram post Sunday. “He is someone who lives and breathes the festival community. He fights for artists and he fights for all people. When I invited him to the opening of the Nova music exhibit in Los Angeles, he was the first person from the industry to accept. He came on his own time and spent five hours in the exhibit and then met with survivors of nova and invited them to the festival this year as his guest. He cried with them, he laughed with them, and he continues to advocate for them. Let’s not lose sight of who this man is, and let us stand with him in this moment when a group, without his knowing, took advantage of his festival and created hate in a place that’s filled with love.”
Variety will have more on the situation as it develops.
