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The frontman Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "not regretful" about his "death, death to the IDF" act at Glastonbury and declared he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Controversial Exclamation and Official Responses

This vocal music pair sparked widespread debate when they initiated crowd chants of "down with the IDF," referring to the Israel Defense Forces, during their summer set. This slogan was censured by festival organizers and UK Prime Minister the prime minister, who labeled it as "shocking hate speech."

Following the event, Bob Vylan was dropped by its representation UTA, and the American government revoked the artists' visas, compelling the duo to call off a planned North American tour.

Conversation with Louis Theroux

During his initial public discussion since the Glastonbury show, Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Foster, spoke on The Louis Theroux Podcast. After asked if he would do it all again, he responded:

"Oh yeah. For instance what if I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes I would repeat it. I'm not regretful of it. I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

The artist added that the backlash the band faced was "minimal compared to what people in Gaza are going through."

Regarding the Chant's Importance

"I don't want to exaggerate the importance of the slogan," he elaborated. "It isn't what I'm attempting to do, but since I have the Palestinian people's support, these are the individuals that I'm advocating for, they're the people that I'm speaking up for, then what is there to feel sorry about? Well, because I've upset some rightwing official or some conservative news outlet?"

Unexpected Reaction and BBC Feedback

This artist claimed he was surprised by the outcry triggered by the chant, and asserted that staff of BBC staff at the event told him on the same day that the performance was "fantastic."

Yet, the broadcaster's ECU later determined that the network's broadcast of the show breached content guidelines in relation to offense and offence.

Vylan informed the host there was no sign of a dispute in the moment: "It wasn't like we left stage, and everybody was like [shocked]. It felt normal. We leave stage. It's normal. No one suspected anything. Not a soul. Including staff at the BBC were like 'That was fantastic! We loved that!'"

Reply to Damon Albarn

The musician also hit back at Damon Albarn, who labeled the chant "a major misstep I've seen in my life" and characterized him as "marching in tennis gear."

Albarn's reaction was "letdown" and "lacked self-awareness," he said.

"I just want to say that categorising it as a 'spectacular misfire' implies that in some way the views of the band or our stance on Palestine's freedom is unplanned," he stated.

"I strongly object with the term 'marching' being used because it's typically associated around Nazi Germany," he added. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is disgusting. I think his response was disgusting."

Intent Behind the Chant

When asked what he meant by the phrase "Down with the IDF," Vylan clarified the slogan itself was "insignificant."

"The key issue is the situation that persist to permit that chant to even occur on that stage. And I mean, the circumstances that exist in Palestine. Where the local population are being killed at an disturbing rate. Who cares about the slogan?" he said.

"Death to the IDF rhymes," he added: "Stop the IDF' does not rhyme, wouldn't have spread, right? … We are there to entertain. We are there to sing songs. I am a lyricist. 'The chant' rhymes. Perfect slogan."

Rejection of Antisemitism Allegations

The musician also rejected claims from the CST, a monitoring and Jewish community safety organisation, that their performance contributed to a rise in antisemitic incidents reported two days.

"I believe I have created an hostile atmosphere for the Jewish community. If there were large numbers of people acting and saying 'We made me do this'. I could go, oh, I've had a negative effect here," he said.

Comparison with Other Bands

As he mentioned he felt the duo had been criticised more heavily than different artists for voicing views about the situation, the host brought up the Irish group another band, who have likewise faced backlash for their approach to pro-Palestine messaging.

"That's a notable point," Vylan said, "since as with all things ethnicity becomes a part in that we are an easier target, no pun intended, than others are because we are inherently the opponent."