More than 100 artists have expressed their support for Kneecap and have signed an open letter in support of the Belfast trio.
Fontaines DC, Annie Mac, Damien Dempsey, The Pogues, Lankum, Blindboy, Pulp, Mary Wallopers and Massive Attack are among those who have signed the letter by Heavenly Recordings – Kneecap’s record label.
“As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom,” reads the letter by Heavenly Recordings.
“In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people,” they added.
This comes as a several gigs by the trio have been cancelled amidst criticism following a performance at Coachella, where they displayed the message “Fuck Israel. Free Palestine” on stage.
Footage also emerged from a gig in November 2023, appearing to show one band member saying “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP”.
Another video emerged from last year, in which a band member appears to be shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” while holding a Hezbollah flag on stage.
Earlier this week, Kneecap’s manager, Daniel Lambert, said the band was being targeted by a “concerted campaign” which aims to silence artists who are speaking about the genocide in Gaza.
On RTÉ’s Mr Lambert said the trio have the “absolute conviction that they are doing the right thing and they stand on the right side of history”.
He said a “video didn’t emerge”, but rather that there “was a concerted campaign emanating from the US to analyse every single thing that Kneecap has ever said”.
Mr Lambert added: “Why this happened was because of what they said at Coachella, and what they said at Coachella was the right thing to say. It’s something we’ve said at Leeds, Reading, Glastonbury, in Dublin, in Belfast.”
Meanwhile, politicians in Britain are pushing for the group to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up following the November 2023 footage which emerged.
On Monday, Kneecap apologised to the families of murdered MPs but also claimed that the footage of the incident had been “exploited”.
They also added that they have never supported Hamas or Hezbollah.
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