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Punk duo lead singer Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "not regretful" about his "death, death to the IDF" act at the festival and asserted he would "do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Controversial Exclamation and Official Reactions

This outspoken music duo sparked widespread debate when they initiated audience calls of "down with the IDF," referring to the IDF, during their June set. The chant was condemned by festival organizers and Britain's leader Keir Starmer, who labeled it as "shocking hate speech."

Following the event, the band was released by its agency UTA, and the US government cancelled the artists' visas, forcing the duo to call off a scheduled North American tour.

Conversation with the Podcaster

During his initial interview since the festival performance, the musician, whose birth name is Pascal Foster, conversed on a popular podcast. When asked if he would repeat his actions, he replied:

"Absolutely. Like suppose I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, definitely I would do it again. I'm not regretful of it. I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

He added that the backlash the duo encountered was "small compared to what individuals in Palestine are experiencing."

Regarding the Chant's Importance

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

Unexpected Response and BBC Comments

The artist claimed he was surprised by the uproar triggered by the exclamation, and stated that staff of BBC employees at Glastonbury told him on the same day that the performance was "excellent."

Yet, the broadcaster's ECU subsequently found that the network's broadcast of the performance violated editorial standards in regard to offense and hurt.

He told the host there was no sign of a dispute in the immediate aftermath: "It wasn't like we came off stage, and everyone was like [shocked]. It's just normal. We come off stage. It's normal. No one suspected anything. Nobody. Including staff at the broadcaster were like 'It was fantastic! We enjoyed that!'"

Reply to Blur Frontman

The musician also hit back at the Blur singer, who labeled the chant "a major misstep I've witnessed in my life" and characterized Vylan as "marching in sport gear."

Albarn's reaction was "disappointing" and "showed no self-awareness," he said.

"I need to say that categorising it as a 'spectacular misfire' implies that somehow the views of the duo or our position on Palestine's freedom is unplanned," he explained.

"I take great issue with the term 'marching' being used because it's typically associated around the Nazis," he continued. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is disgusting. I think his response was disgusting."

Meaning Behind the Slogan

When asked what he intended by the chant "Down with the IDF," Vylan clarified the chant itself was "unimportant."

"What is important is the situation that persist to permit that chant to even take place on that stage. And I mean, the conditions that exist in Palestine. Where the local population are being killed at an disturbing rate. What matters about the chant?" he said.

"The phrase rhymes," he noted: "Stop the IDF' does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, right? … We are there to perform. We are there to sing songs. I am a songwriter. 'The chant' rhymes. Ideal chant."

Denial of Antisemitism Claims

Vylan also rejected assertions from the CST, a monitoring and Jewish community safety organisation, that their set led to a spike in anti-Jewish events reported later.

"I don't think I have created an unsafe environment for the Jewish community. If there were many individuals of people acting and saying 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I might go, oh, I've had a bad impact here," he commented.

Contrast with Other Bands

As Vylan mentioned he thought the band had been targeted more severely than different artists for speaking about the situation, Theroux brought up the Ireland-based group another band, who have also faced backlash for their method to pro-Palestine messaging.

"That's a notable point," Vylan said, "since as with all things ethnicity comes to play a factor in that we are an more convenient villain, no pun intended, than they are because we are inherently the enemy."