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The frontman Bobby Vylan has expressed he is "not regretful" about his "death, death to the IDF" performance at the festival and asserted he would "repeat it tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Controversial Chant and Official Reactions

The vocal music pair ignited significant debate when they led audience calls of "death, death to the IDF," pointing to the Israel Defense Forces, during their summer set. This slogan was condemned by festival organizers and UK Prime Minister the prime minister, who described it as "appalling hate speech."

After the event, the band was released by its agency UTA, and the US state department cancelled the members' visas, forcing the duo to call off a scheduled US and Canada tour.

Conversation with the Podcaster

During his first public discussion since the Glastonbury show, the musician, whose real name is Pascal Foster, spoke on The Louis Theroux Podcast. When questioned if he would do it all again, he responded:

"Oh yeah. For instance suppose I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, definitely I would do it again. I'm not regretful of it. I'd do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

The artist noted that the backlash the band encountered was "minimal compared to what individuals in Gaza are going through."

On the Protest's Importance

"I aim not to exaggerate the significance of the chant," he continued. "It isn't what I'm trying to do, but if I have their backing, these are the individuals that I'm advocating for, these are the people that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to feel sorry about? Well, because I've angered some rightwing politician or some rightwing news outlet?"

Unexpected Reaction and BBC Comments

This artist said he was surprised by the outcry triggered by the exclamation, and stated that staff of BBC staff at the event told him on the day that the set was "fantastic."

However, the broadcaster's executive complaints unit subsequently found that the BBC's broadcast of the show breached editorial standards in regard to offense and offence.

Vylan informed Theroux there was no sign of a controversy in the immediate aftermath: "It didn't feel like we left stage, and everyone was like [gasps]. It's just normal. We come off stage. It was normal. Nobody suspected anything. Not a soul. Including staff at the broadcaster were like 'It was fantastic! We loved that!'"

Response to Blur Frontman

Vylan also hit back at Damon Albarn, who called the chant "one of the most spectacular misfires I've seen in my life" and described him as "marching in sport gear."

Albarn's comment was "letdown" and "showed no self-awareness," Vylan said.

"I just want to say that labeling it as a 'spectacular misfire' implies that in some way the politics of the duo or our position on Palestine's freedom is not thought out," he explained.

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

Intent Behind the Chant

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

"The key issue is the conditions that persist to permit that protest to even occur on that platform. And I mean, the conditions that exist in the region. In which the local people are being killed at an disturbing rate. Who cares about the slogan?" he said.

"The phrase rhymes," he noted: "'End, End the IDF does not rhyme, wouldn't have spread, right? … We are there to entertain. We are there to sing songs. I am a songwriter. 'The chant' rhymes. Ideal slogan."

Rejection of Antisemitism Allegations

The musician also denied claims from the Community Security Trust, a watchdog and Jewish safety organisation, that their performance led to a spike in antisemitic incidents reported later.

"I believe I have caused an unsafe environment for the Jewish community. Suppose there were large numbers of people acting and going like 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I might go, oh, I've had a negative impact here," he said.

Contrast with Other Artists

As he mentioned he felt the band had been targeted more heavily than others for speaking about the conflict, Theroux brought up the Irish group Kneecap, who have also encountered criticism for their approach to pro-Palestine messaging.

"That's an interesting one," Vylan said, "since as with all things race comes to play a factor in that we are an more convenient villain, no pun intended, than others are because we are inherently the opponent."