They added that their chants were evidence that “regular Americans want to see an end to the genocide, despite their government’s arming and funding Israel”
Kneecap have spoken out after controversy around their sets at Coachella, and the calls from Sharon Osbourne to revoke their working visas.
The statement from the Irish hip-hop trio comes after their two sets at the festival reportedly left organisers “blindsided” due to their overtly political nature, including showing pro-Palestine projections on the screen behind them and encouraging the audience to chat “Free, Free Palestine”.
After dividing public opinion at the gigs, Kneecap have now spoken out about the California festival performances and defended their decision to speak out in support of Palestine at the event.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, member Mo Chara shared that the trio have spoken about Palestine “at every single gig since the band’s formation, long before October 2023 as the oppression and brutal occupation of Palestine has been ongoing for 77 years”.
As for why they thought it was vital to continue to do so at Coachella 2025, he added: “We believe we have an obligation to use our platform when we can to raise the issue of Palestine, and it was important for us to speak out at Coachella as the USA is the main funder and supplier of weapons to Israel as they commit genocide in Gaza.
“As I said from the stage, ‘The U.S. government could stop the genocide tomorrow.’ It’s important that young Americans hear and know it,” he added.
At their show at the first weekend of Coachella, the livestream of their set was cut after they voiced their political stance and led a provocative anti-Margaret Thatcher chant. Speaking about how filmed footage cut out the chant and failed to show any of the pro-Palestine messages projected on the screen behind them, Chara told Rolling Stone: “We only heard about it the next day and haven’t heard from anyone officially. “It’s not surprising, large companies don’t like to hear the truth unless it suits their narrative and pocket.”
The restrictions from weekend one led to the band providing their own livestream at weekend two – with political commentator Hasan Piker broadcasting their set live on Twitch. Slogans including “Fuck Israel, Free Palestine”, “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” and “it is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes” were projected on the screen behind them as they played.
Chara also used the time on stage to say: “The Palestinians have nowhere to go, it’s their fucking home and they’re bombing them from the skies… If you’re not calling it a genocide what the fuck are you calling it?” The band then led a “Free, Free Palestine” chant.
Speaking to RS about weekend two, and defending their decision to speak out, Chara said: “This is something that happens at all of our gigs from Spain to Scotland and Ireland to Iceland because people know what’s happening is wrong and are angry about it.
“The crowd chanting ‘Free Palestine’ at Coachella was a message of solidarity to the people of Gaza from regular Americans who want to see an end to the genocide, despite their government’s arming and funding Israel.”
Other statements they shared included a response to claims that the band are “anti-Israel”. “Israel has murdered over 52,000 Palestinians in Gaza in the last 18 months, mostly women and children. They have obliterated much of the Gaza Strip with U.S.-supplied weapons and are currently starving over 2million Gazans,” he said.
“People can make their own decisions about whether our message is anti-Israel, but for us, it’s about their government’s sickening actions, not ordinary people.”
One of the most vocal opponents for Kneecap’s appearances at Coachella was Sharon Osbourne. Taking to X, Osbourne – who has Ashkenazi Jewish heritage – wrote a lengthy post claiming that the sets “compromised” the festival’s “moral and spiritual integrity”. She also urged for the trio to have their working visas revoked due to the performances.
“Her rant has so many holes in it that it hardly warrants a reply, but she should listen to ‘War Pigs’ that was written by Black Sabbath,” Chara told RS in response. The nod to Black Sabbath comes as her husband Ozzy Osbourne, is the band’s frontman.
The band then shared another statement with BBC News Northern Ireland about Osbourne’s comments adding: “Statements aren’t aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though.”
More criticism towards the band came from the organisers of the Nova Music Festival– the site of the deadly Hamas attack that took place on October 7 2023 and preceded Israel’s crackdown on Gaza. In their comments event organisers invited the trio to come and visit the Nova Exhibition so that they could understand the other side of the debate, and “experience firsthand the stories of those who were murdered, those who survived, and those who are still being held hostage.”
While Mo Chara did not explicitly say whether or not the band would be accepting the invite, he did say: “There are over 10,000 Palestinians being held hostage in Israeli jails as we speak, many of them without charge or trial, including 400 children who are being held illegally under international law.”
“As I said already, over 52,000 Palestinians have been murdered in the last 18 months, and over 2 million displaced in Gaza. Who is talking about the 30,000 innocent children who have been murdered in Gaza in the last 18 months?,” he added.
“Our message is about ending the genocide and ending the ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine. We want people to take whatever action they can to stop the genocide. People can take what they want from our music, stopping the genocide is more important.”
Speaking to Irish broadcaster RTÉ, the band’s manager Daniel Lambert shared that Kneecap have received death threats that are “too severe to get into” following their Coachella appearance (via Belfast Live). That being said, while some are criticising the band for the comments, many others are celebrating the trio for using their platform to speak out on the conflict. The band have shared numerous messages of support from fans online.
Kneecap were far from the only artists to speak out in support of Palestine at the 2025 edition of the Indio festival.
Elsewhere, Blonde Redhead ended their Coachella 2025 set with audio of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and the Palestinian flag, Bob Vylan displayed Palestinian flags during their set, and Darkside compared the massacres of the Native American people to the “genocide” in Gaza.
Headliners Green Day spoke out too. During their set, frontman Billie Joe Armstrong changed one of the lyrics in their pop-punk epic ‘Jesus of Suburbia’ to draw attention to the conflict.
Instead of singing the original lyric, “Runnin’ away from pain when you’ve been victimised,” Armstrong sang: “Runnin’ away from pain like the kids from Palestine”. The switch later led to Disturbed’s David Draiman offering the singer the view of the “Israeli/Jewish side of this horrific war”.
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