Kneecap share messages of support after Coachella Palestine controversy and Sharon Osbourne’s visa ban call

Kneecap have shared the messages of support they’ve received following the controversy surrounding their Coachella performances.

• READ MORE: Kneecap on the cover – giving peace, protest and partying a chance

The trio made headlines on Coachella’s weekend one, after the live stream of their set was cut when they voiced their support for a free Palestine, and also led the crowd in a provocative anti-Margaret Thatcher chant. “Not only was that cut,” they later said, referring to the Thatcher refrain, “our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either.”

At the second weekend, the band provided their own livestream, with political commentator Hasan Piker broadcasting their set live on Twitch. Slogans including “Fuck Israel, Free Palestine”, “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and “it is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes” were projected on the screen behind them as they played.

During their second set, Mo Chara delivered a brief speech, telling the crowd: “The Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the fucking skies with nowhere to go.

“The Palestinians have nowhere to go, it’s their fucking home and they’re bombing them from the skies,” he added. “If you’re not calling it a genocide what the fuck are you calling it?” The band then led a “Free, Free Palestine” chant.

Following the performance, Coachella organisers reportedly said they were “blindsided” by the band’s pro-Palestinian messages and chants at the festival.

Shortly after that, Sharon Osbourne called for a “revocation” of their work visa, claiming their performance “compromised” the festival’s “moral and spiritual integrity”.

Now, amid the controversy, Kneecap have shared some of the messages of support they’ve received since their set. Posting a selection of DMs and emails on Twitter/X, the band wrote: “Amongst the hundreds of violent Zionist threats there’s thousands of these”.

Among them is one from a retired British Royal Navy officer, which reads: “I love your music. Free Palestine. Fuck the haters”, while another says: “As a Palestinian in exile I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving us a voice on the world stage.”

Elsewhere, they re-shared a post from an X user that says: “What happened at Coachella is Israel’s worst nightmare. They’re learning that no matter how many politicians they own? And how much corporate media they control? They can’t wipe out the truth any more. Those days are over.”

Amongst the hundreds of violent Zionist threats there's thousands of these Read More