{"id":672104,"date":"2026-07-03T18:34:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T18:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/672104\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T18:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T18:34:11","slug":"bob-vylan-take-legal-action-against-bbc-over-glastonbury-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/672104\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Vylan take legal action against BBC over Glastonbury controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p>Punk duo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/bob-vylan\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bob Vylan<\/a> have said on social media that they are taking legal action against the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/bbc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BBC<\/a> following controversy around their performance at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/glastonbury\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Glastonbury<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n<p>The duo, comprised of drummer Wade Laurence George, known as Bobbie Vylan, and singer Bobby Vylan, whose real name is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/bob-vylan-police-interview-israel-glastonbury-b2862911.html\">Pascal Robinson-Foster,<\/a> performed on the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/music\/news\/bob-vylan-glastonbury-bbc-keir-starmer-idf-israel-b2780332.html\">West Holts Stage <\/a>in June 2025, with Robinson-Foster leading crowds in chants of &#8220;death, death to the IDF (Israel Defence Forces)&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/bbc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">BBC<\/a> faced criticism for livestreaming the performance, saying in a statement shortly after that the Ipswich-formed act had been deemed suitable for live streaming but that this was &#8220;clearly not the case&#8221;, and apologising for the group\u2019s &#8220;offensive and deplorable behaviour&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>On Friday, the duo said on Instagram that they are taking legal action against the corporation, accusing it of &#8220;placing labels upon us that did not, do not and never will fit&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The post said: &#8220;We have decided to take legal action against the BBC. In the immediate aftermath of our performance at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/glastonbury\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Glastonbury<\/a> 2025, the BBC wasted no time in placing labels upon us that did not, do not and never will fit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As a corporation that receives the majority of its funding from the public, it has disappointingly continued to prove how little it represents the interests of the people and our access to unbiased news and information.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The duo also said they had &#8220;no choice but to take on this fight&#8221;, concluding: &#8220;Free Palestine and justice for the Filton 25.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Filton 25&#8221; is a reference to pro-Palestine activists.<\/p>\n<p>The BBC declined to comment.<\/p>\n<p>The duo, who are known for writing songs that criticise the British establishment, took to the West Holts Stage ahead of a performance from Belfast rap trio Kneecap, who were also investigated by police for comments made on stage.<\/p>\n<p>Following the performance, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/bob-vylan\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Bob Vylan<\/a> were dropped from several festivals and events, including Radar festival, a show at a German music venue, and a US tour.<\/p>\n<p>Robinson-Foster said on the Louis Theroux Podcast last October <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/bob-vylan-glastonbury-chant-idf-chant-louis-theroux-b2848879.html\">that he was &#8220;not regretful&#8221; of the chant <\/a>and would &#8220;do it again tomorrow&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Avon and Somerset Police later opened a criminal investigation over the incident, but said in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/crime\/bob-vylan-glastonbury-festival-chants-police-investigation-dropped-b2889685.html\">December that no further action would be taken<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-672104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}