Punk rap duo Bob Vylan have had their next gig cancelled after their frontman made controversial comments about Charlie Kirk’s death on stage.
A clip from the Ipswich band’s performance at Amsterdam’s Club Paradiso on Saturday went viral, as the frontman said of right-wing activist Kirk: “I want to dedicate this next one to an absolute piece of shit of a human being.
“The pronouns was/were. ‘Cause if you chat shit you will get banged. Rest in peace Charlie Kirk, you piece of s***’.”
The comments came after Kirk was fatally shot in the neck on Wednesday while speaking to university students at an event in Utah. Bob Vylan were next set to perform at the 013 venue in Tilburg in the Netherlands on Tuesday.
The band, who led chants of “death to the IDF” at Glastonbury, which are the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by Avon and Somerset Police, released a response to claims online that they were celebrating Kirk’s death.
Bob Vylan with their MOBO award in London in November 2022. Pic: Reuters
Frontman Bobby Vylan, who keeps his real name private, said in a video response on X: “At no point during yesterday’s show was Charlie Kirk’s death celebrated.
“I did call him a piece of s***. That much is true. But at no point was his death celebrated.
“If it was, go find me a quote… that proves that we were celebrating his death. You’re not gonna find it, because it didn’t happen.”
He ended the video by telling people to “calm down”.
The video has received more than 25,000 comments, including from the former mayor of New York and Trump ally Rudy Giuliani, who said the band were being “irresponsible and dangerous”.
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In a statement, the 013 said the band’s most recent statements went “too far”.
“While we understand that these statements were made in the context of punk and activism, and that the reporting on them is sometimes less nuanced than what actually happened, we still believe these new statements go too far,” read the statement.
“They no longer fall within the scope of what we can offer a platform.”
The venue said it had initially decided to let them perform “despite the controversy that arose after their Glastonbury performance” because it had an “understanding for the artist’s anger” regarding the violence in Israel.
It added that it was also because the duo clarified in a statement that the chant was “not an antisemitic slogan, but rather criticism of the Israeli army”.
