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The lead singer of Bob Vylan has expressed he is "not regretful" about his "death, death to the IDF" performance at the festival and declared he would "do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

Controversial Exclamation and Official Reactions

This outspoken music duo sparked widespread debate when they led crowd chants of "death, death to the IDF," referring to the Israel Defense Forces, during their June performance. The chant was censured by Glastonbury and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who described it as "shocking hate speech."

Following the event, the band was dropped by its representation United Talent Agency, and the American government revoked the artists' visas, forcing the duo to call off a scheduled US and Canada concert series.

Conversation with the Podcaster

During his first interview after the Glastonbury performance, the musician, whose birth name is Pascal Foster, conversed on The Louis Theroux Podcast. After asked if he would do it all again, he replied:

"Absolutely. For instance suppose I was to perform at Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes I would repeat it. I'm not regretful of it. I'd say it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays."

The artist added that the backlash the duo faced was "minimal compared to what people in Gaza are going through."

On the Protest's Significance

"I don't want to overstate the importance of the slogan," he continued. "That's not what I'm trying to do, but if I have the Palestinian people's support, these are the people that I'm doing it for, they're the individuals that I'm being vocal for, then what is there to feel sorry about? Oh, because I've upset some conservative politician or some conservative media?"

Unexpected Reaction and BBC Feedback

This musician claimed he was surprised by the uproar sparked by the chant, and asserted that members of the broadcaster staff at the event told him on the same day that the set was "fantastic."

Yet, the broadcaster's ECU subsequently determined that the BBC's broadcast of the performance breached editorial standards in regard to harm and hurt.

He informed Theroux there was no sign of a dispute in the moment: "It wasn't like we left stage, and everyone was like [gasps]. It's just normal. We come off stage. It's normal. No one suspected anything. Not a soul. Including crew at the BBC were like 'That was fantastic! We loved 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 described Vylan as "marching in sport gear."

Albarn's reaction was "disappointing" and "showed no self-awareness," he said.

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

"I strongly object with the term 'marching' being used because it's only used around Nazi Germany," he added. "Precisely. And for him to use that language, I think is offensive. I think his response was appalling."

Intent Behind the Slogan

When asked what he meant by the phrase "Down with the IDF," Vylan clarified the slogan itself was "unimportant."

"The key issue is the conditions that exist to permit that protest to even occur on that platform. And I mean, the conditions that are present in Palestine. In which the local people are being slain at an disturbing rate. Who cares about the chant?" he stated.

"Death to the IDF rhymes," he noted: "Stop the IDF' does not rhyme, wouldn't have caught on, would it? … We are there to entertain. We are there to sing songs. I am a lyricist. 'Death, Death to IDF' rhymes. Ideal chant."

Denial of Hate Speech Allegations

Vylan also denied assertions from the Community Security Trust, a monitoring and Jewish community safety organisation, that their set led to a spike in anti-Jewish events reported two days.

"I don't think I have created an unsafe environment for the Jewish community. If there were large numbers of people acting and saying 'Bob Vylan made me do this'. I could go, oh, I've had a bad effect here," he commented.

Comparison with Other Artists

As Vylan said he felt the duo had been targeted more heavily than others for voicing views about the situation, the host brought up the Irish band another band, who have also encountered backlash for their approach to pro-Palestinian messaging.

"That's an interesting one," he said, "because as with everything ethnicity comes to play a factor in that we are an more convenient target, seriously, than they are because we are already the opponent."