EXCLUSIVE: UTA has moved swiftly to drop Bob Vylan, the punk duo at the heart of a scandal in the UK over their performance at Glastonbury Festival.
Deadline understands that a flurry of conversations took place among senior UTA executives over the weekend, during which a decision was taken to part ways with duo Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan.
Vylan’s set on Saturday has made front-page newspaper news in the UK after Bobby Vylan chanted “death to the IDF” and complained about working for a “f***ing Zionist.”
Vylan also platformed the controversial slogan, “from the river to the sea, Palestine must be, will be, free,” during the West Holts stage set, streamed live on the BBC.
UTA insiders are thought to have shared the sentiments of Glastonbury organizers, who said that Vylan overstepped the mark with his comments on stage. UTA declined to comment, but the band’s page has been scrubbed from the agency’s website.
In a statement, Glastonbury chief Emily Eavis said: “We are appalled by the statements made from the West Holts stage by Bob Vylan yesterday. Their chants very much crossed a line and we are urgently reminding everyone involved in the production of the festival that there is no place at Glastonbury for antisemitism, hate speech or incitement to violence.”
In a statement on Instagram, Bobby Vylan said his phone was “buzzing non-stop” with messages of “support and hatred” after the performance. He appeared to stand by what was said on stage, writing that it was important to teach children to campaign for the “right thing.”
In a message captioned “I said what I said,” Vylan continued: “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.”
The BBC has also come under heavy criticism, including from Prime Minister Keir Starmer, for streaming Bob Vylan’s set on iPlayer. In a statement on Monday, the UK broadcaster said it regretted the decision to carry the Glastonbury set live.
“The BBC respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence. The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves,” the BBC said in a statement.
The BBC went on to say that “the team were dealing with a live situation but with hindsight we should have pulled the stream during the performance,” adding: “We regret this did not happen.”
Bob Vylan’s set slipped the net amid the BBC’s laser focus on a different act, Kneecap. The Irish hip-hop trio, which played shortly after Bob Vylan on the same stage, were not shown live over hate speech fears, but it was Bob Vylan that ended up causing the most controversy. Some have even called for BBC bosses to be prosecuted over the Vylan remarks.
