The Northern Irish rap group has been embroiled in a number of controversies over the last few days, following the political messaging at the end of their Coachella set
Kneecap hit back at Sharon Osbourne with a savage response after she told them to ‘be more like Bono’. The Northern Irish rap group caused a stir on the internet when they ended their set at Coachella music festival in California on April 18 with three messages on a large screen that accused Israel of genocide and war crimes against the Palestinian people.
The messages read: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people”, “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes” and “F*** Israel. Free Palestine.” The group have long been pro-Palestinian but their Coachella statement set the internet ablaze, with the likes of Sharon Osbourne chiming in to condemn their message.
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Following their set, Sharon became one of the public figures to condemn the performance, advocating for their US work visas to be revoked. Amid the uproar, fans and other musicians – including Massive Attack and Garbage – have been quick to show the West Belfast musicians their support.
Kneecap responded to Sharon’s initial comments with a statement that read: “Statements aren’t aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though.” And now, Sharon appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored and shared her thoughts on Kneecap using Coachella to share their stance, despite them openly voicing their beliefs since the band’s formation.
“My whole stance is have your own stance politically, couldn’t give a damn what you believe in but don’t bring it to a musical festival where there’s peace. Music unites people, music doesn’t separate people,” she claimed.
“It’s all insane that this should be allowed to continue where there are young people, drinking or doing whatever they want to do, it’s their business, but don’t try to incite violence with their fist, attitude. Their whole attitude is one of anger, it’s not of peace.”
She repeated her demand to have their US working visas revoked and added: “There are enough problems. We don’t need, in America, this coming in.
“They are uneducated, when was the last time they went to the Middle East? They are using cliched slogans, nothing they are saying is original. They are not bringing anything to the table. Nothing except anger.”
She then told the group to be more like U2, telling Piers: “They should follow the masters, who are U2. Bono goes on, he talks about Palestine. He does it in peace. He’s pro-Palestine, that’s his opinion Bono, god bless him, but he does it in such a way that it doesn’t incite violence from a crowd.”
Upon seeing her comments telling the band members, including Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí, to be more like Bono, they took to X/Twitter to respond.
They wrote: “Would rather be a Rangers fan tbh…”
It comes after the counter-terror police announced that they would be investigating the rap trio after video resurfaced of the group allegedly saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” and “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP”.
Following their Coachella set, they released a statement hitting out at the ‘coordinated smear campaign’ against them. They said: “Since our statements at Coachella – exposing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people – we have faced a coordinated smear campaign. For over a year, we have used our shows to call out the British and Irish governments’ complicity in war crimes.
“The recent attacks against us, largely emanating from the US, are based on deliberate distortions and falsehoods. We are taking action against several of these malicious efforts. Let us be absolutely clear.
Kneecap continued: “The reason Kneecap is being targeted is simple – we are telling the truth, and our audience is growing. Those attacking us want to silence criticism of a mass slaughter. They weaponise false accusations of antisemitism to distract, confuse, and provide cover for genocide.
“We do not give a f**k what religion anyone practices. We know there are massive numbers of Jewish people outraged by this genocide just as we are. What we care about is that governments of the countries we perform in are enabling some of the most horrific crimes of our lifetimes – and we will not stay silent.
“No media spin will change this. Our only concern is the Palestinian people. The 20,000 murdered children and counting. The young people at our gigs see through the lie. They stand on the side of humanity and justice. And that gives us great hope.”
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