An upcoming performance in the Netherlands from the punk-rap duo Bob Vylan has been cancelled following outrage over comments about the assassination of American activist Charlie Kirk.
The 013 Poppodium concert hall in Tilburg announced on Sunday that it has cancelled a planned show on Tuesday by the UK rap group following controversial statements made by singer Bobby Vylan (real name Pascal Robinson-Foster) on Saturday evening at a separate concert venue in Amsterdam.
During the performance, amid roars from the crowd, Vylan said: “I want to dedicate this next song to a real piece of shit human being, pronouns: was/were. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk, you piece of shit… If you chat shit, you will get banged!”
The rapper continued: “Sometimes you have to kick Nazis in their fucking face… Fuck the fascists, fuck the Zionists. Go find them on the street!”
After footage of some of the comments went viral, sparking widespread outrage, the 013 Poppodium cancelled Tuesday’s performance.
In a statement to De Telegraaf, a spokesman for the venue said: “While we understand that the statements have been made in the context of punk and activism, and that reporting on them is sometimes less nuanced than what actually happened, we still believe that these new expressions go too far.
“They no longer fall within the limits of what we can offer a platform for us.”
Attempting to put a lid on the controversy, Bobby Vylan claimed in a post on X that he was not “celebrating” the killing of Charlie Kirk, and that those angered over the comments should “calm down”.
Many were not convinced, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who commented: “How irresponsible and dangerous for you to utter such words to your fans (Notice the crowd cheers in response).
“Your plea to ‘calm down’ is not enough. You should totally renounce your own words endorsing murder against those you disagree with, or be completely and irreparably ostracized from society, because spreading the message that murder is an acceptable avenue to silencing free speech is dangerous and destabilizing to us all.”
It is not the first time that the duo have courted controversy, with the band finding themselves under police investigation in Britain after leading the crowd at the Glastonbury music festival in June in a chant of “Death, death to the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces).”
The performance, which was broadcast across the UK by the BBC public broadcaster, also sparked widespread outrage, resulting in the band being dropped by their management team and having their visas revoked to tour in the United States.
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has further vowed in the wake of the Kirk assassination to bar others “who glorify violence and hatred” from entering the United States on visas.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on X: Follow @KurtZindulka or e-mail to: [email protected]
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