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The lead singer Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "without regret" about his "death, death to the IDF" performance at the festival and asserted he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Disputed Exclamation and Official Responses

This vocal music duo sparked widespread controversy when they led crowd chants of "death, death to the IDF," referring to the IDF, during their June performance. The slogan was censured by Glastonbury and Britain's leader the prime minister, who labeled it as "shocking hate speech."

Following the event, the band was released by its representation UTA, and the American government revoked the artists' visas, forcing them to cancel a scheduled US and Canada concert series.

Conversation with the Podcaster

During his initial interview since the Glastonbury show, the musician, using his real name is Pascal Foster, spoke on The Louis Theroux Podcast. When questioned if he would repeat his actions, he replied:

"Oh yeah. Like suppose I was to go on the festival again tomorrow, definitely I would repeat it. I'm without regret of it. I'd say it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

The artist added that the backlash the duo faced was "minimal compared to what people in Gaza are experiencing."

Regarding the Chant's Significance

"I don't want to overstate the importance of the chant," he continued. "It isn't what I'm attempting to do, but if I have the Palestinian people's backing, they're the people that I'm doing it for, they're the individuals that I'm speaking up for, then what is there to regret? Well, because I've angered some rightwing official or some conservative news outlet?"

Unexpected Reaction and BBC Comments

The musician said he was surprised by the uproar sparked by the exclamation, and asserted that members of the broadcaster staff at the event told him on the same day that the performance was "fantastic."

However, the broadcaster's ECU subsequently determined that the network's airing of the show violated content standards in regard to harm and hurt.

Vylan told Theroux there was no sign of a controversy in the moment: "It didn't feel like we came off 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 broadcaster were like 'It was fantastic! We loved that!'"

Response to Blur Frontman

Vylan also hit back at the Blur singer, who labeled the protest "a major misstep I've seen in my life" and described him as "goose-stepping in sport gear."

His comment was "letdown" and "lacked self-awareness," Vylan said.

"I just want to say that labeling it as a 'huge mistake' implies that in some way the politics of the duo or our stance on Palestine's freedom is not thought out," he stated.

"I strongly object with the phrase 'goose-stepping' being used because it's only used around Nazi Germany," he added. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is offensive. I think his answer was disgusting."

Meaning Behind the Slogan

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

"What is important is the situation that persist to allow that chant to even take place on that stage. And I mean, the circumstances that exist in Palestine. In which the Palestinian population are being killed at an alarming rate. Who cares about the chant?" he said.

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

Denial of Hate Speech Allegations

The musician also denied assertions from the Community Security Trust, a monitoring and Jewish safety organisation, that their set led to a rise in antisemitic events reported later.

"I don't think I have caused an hostile environment for the Jewish people. Suppose there were many individuals of individuals going out and going like 'We made me do this'. I might go, oh, I've had a bad impact here," he said.

Contrast with Other Bands

As he mentioned he thought the duo had been criticised more severely than different artists for speaking about the situation, Theroux brought up the Irish band another band, who have likewise encountered backlash for their approach to pro-Palestine advocacy.

"That's an interesting one," he said, "since as with everything ethnicity comes to play a factor in that we are an more convenient villain, seriously, than they are because we are inherently the opponent."