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Punk duo frontman Bobby Vylan has stated he is "not regretful" about his "death, death to the IDF" performance at Glastonbury and declared he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Disputed Chant and Official Responses

This vocal punk duo sparked significant debate when they led crowd calls of "death, death to the IDF," referring to the IDF, during their summer performance. The chant was condemned by Glastonbury and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who described it as "shocking hate speech."

Following the incident, the band was released by its agency UTA, and the American government revoked the artists' visas, forcing the duo to call off a scheduled North American tour.

Interview with Louis Theroux

During his first interview since the festival performance, Vylan, using his birth name is Pascal Foster, conversed on The Louis Theroux Podcast. When asked if he would do it all again, he responded:

"Absolutely. Like suppose I was to perform at the festival again tomorrow, definitely I would do it again. I'm not regretful of it. I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

He added that the criticism the band encountered was "minimal compared to what individuals in Palestine are experiencing."

Regarding the Protest's Importance

"I aim not to exaggerate the importance of the slogan," he continued. "It isn't what I'm attempting to do, but if I have their backing, they're the people that I'm advocating for, they're the individuals that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to regret? Oh, because I've angered some rightwing official or some rightwing news outlet?"

Surprising Response and BBC Comments

This artist claimed he was surprised by the uproar triggered by the chant, and asserted that staff of BBC employees at Glastonbury told him on the same day that the performance was "excellent."

However, the broadcaster's executive complaints unit later determined that the network's broadcast of the performance breached content guidelines in relation to offense and hurt.

He told Theroux there was no indication of a controversy in the immediate aftermath: "It wasn't like we left stage, and everybody was like [gasps]. It's just normal. We leave stage. It's normal. Nobody suspected anything. Nobody. Including staff at the broadcaster were like 'That was fantastic! We enjoyed that!'"

Reply to Damon Albarn

Vylan also hit back at the Blur singer, who labeled the chant "one of the most spectacular misfires I've seen in my life" and characterized him as "marching in tennis gear."

His comment was "disappointing" and "showed no self-awareness," Vylan said.

"I just want to say that labeling it as a 'huge mistake' implies that in some way the politics of the duo or our stance on Palestinian liberation is unplanned," he explained.

"I take great issue with the phrase 'marching' being used because it's typically associated around the Nazis," he continued. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is offensive. I think his response was disgusting."

Intent Behind the Slogan

After questioned what he intended by the phrase "Death to the IDF," the artist clarified the chant itself was "unimportant."

"What is important is the situation that persist to allow that chant to even occur on that platform. And I mean, the conditions that exist in the region. In which the Palestinian people are being killed at an alarming rate. What matters about the chant?" he said.

"Death to the IDF rhymes," he noted: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, right? … We are there to perform. We are there to play music. I am a songwriter. 'Death, Death to IDF' rhymes. Perfect slogan."

Rejection of Antisemitism Claims

The musician also rejected claims from the Community Security Trust, a monitoring and Jewish safety group, that their performance led to a spike in anti-Jewish incidents recorded two days.

"I don't think I have created an unsafe atmosphere for the Jewish people. If there were large numbers of individuals going out and saying 'We made me do this'. I could go, oh, I've had a negative impact here," he said.

Contrast with Other Artists

When he mentioned he felt the band had been targeted more heavily than different artists for voicing views about the situation, the host brought up the Ireland-based band another band, who have also faced backlash for their method to pro-Palestine messaging.

"That's a notable point," Vylan responded, "because as with everything race becomes a part in that we are an more convenient target, no pun intended, than others are because we are already the enemy."