The English punk-rap duo Bob Vylan had a planned performance in the Dutch city of Tilburg cancelled following comments made during their September 13 concert at the Paradiso venue in Amsterdam.
During the show, frontman Bobby Vylan referred to US right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk, saying: “The pronouns was/were. Because if you talk shi*t, you will get banged. Rest in peace, Charlie Kirk, you piece of sh*t.”
He also led the audience in chants of “Death to the IDF” on several occasions and voiced support for the liberation of Palestine.
“They’re trying to put fear in us, like we can’t say it,” he told the crowd. “Let that chant ring loud, from the UK to the Netherlands to Australia to America.”
The artist stressed that the band’s stance was political rather than religious: “We’re not hateful, we’re not anti-Semites. We’re anti-Zionist. We are anti-oppression, we are anti-fascist.”
Following these on-stage remarks, their planned gig in Tilburg, scheduled for tomorrow, was cancelled and the 013 venue that was due to host the band said the pair had “gone too far.”
“Bob Vylan made last night at Paradiso clearly crossed a line for us. Trivialising political murder is something we firmly reject,” said the venue.
“While we recognise that the comments were made in the context of punk and activism, and that reporting on them is sometimes less nuanced than what actually took place, we nevertheless believe that these new statements go too far.
“For us, they no longer fall within the boundaries of what we can provide a platform for,” it added.
Dutch right-wing leader Geert Wilders weighed in and demanded the expulsion of the punk duo from the country.
“Silence. Total anarchy in the Netherlands. Arrest him and send him out now,” he posted on X.
Following the controversy, Bobby Vylan insisted he never “celebrated” Kirk’s death, although he admitted calling him a “piece of sh*t”.
He accused reporters of twisting his words. “One reporter bought a ticket just to catch me out. They claim I celebrated Kirk’s death. At no point did I. Yes, I called him a piece of sh*t. Then we played a song,” he said in a video on X.
“They want us down so bad, but we just played a sold-out Paradiso. It’s always love in Amsterdam,” the duo said.
It’s not the first time the the rappers have sparked outrage for their performances.
At Glastonbury in June, the Bobby Vylan chanted with the crowd: “Free Palestine” and “Death to the IDF”. This resulted in several cancelled concerts and an investigation from the UK police into whether the remarks constituted a criminal offence.
Punk duo Bob Vylan and rap group Kneecap’s sets at the 2025 Glastonbury Festival have triggered criminal probes and a revoked US visa, amid accusations of hate speech. https://t.co/9a5WKbgP79
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 1, 2025
