Kneecap manager claims Sony told band to stop speaking about Palestine

Posted On August 8, 2025August 8, 2025

Kneecap‘s manager, Daniel Lambert, has claimed Sony told the Irish band to stop speaking out in support of Palestine.

Following the premiere of their semi-fictionalised biopic, Kneecap, at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2024, the Bafta-nominated movie was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics ahead of its cinematic release in major markets.

Since they formed in 2017, Kneecap has publicly supported Palestine and continues to do so. Yet, Lambert says Sony attempted to intervene once they became tied to the band’s movie.

Per the Belfast Telegraph, Lambert said at a Féile an Phobail event on August 6th: “I know in the case of Kneecap, they’ve made a lot of decisions that have been and will be fairly detrimental to their careers.”

He then claimed: “I met Sony in a skyscraper in Manhattan… and the first thing was, they had just bought the Kneecap film, and they said: ‘You need to stop speaking about Palestine’. And the lads said: ‘That’s not going to happen.”

Later this month, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, better known as Mo Chara, is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on August 20th. He was charged in May on a terror offence for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert.

Subsequently, a police investigation was also launched following their appearance at Glastonbury in June, but it was later confirmed they’d face no charges in relation to their set.

On the upcoming court appearance, Lambert said: “I don’t want to speak for Liam Óg, but I think there’s a great sense of conviction that comes when you know that you’re right… and you haven’t done anything wrong.”

The music manager added: “You walk into any room, and there’s a group of people against you, but you’re clear on what you’ve done and that you’ve done the right thing, and that kind of counts for a lot. That’s the way he kind of feels about it.”

This weekend, Kneecap were due to perform at Sziget Festival in Hungary. However, the Hungarian government stepped in to ban the group from entering the country to cancel their set.

In response, Kneecap claimed “there is no legal basis for his actions” before highlighting that no member of the band has ever been convicted of any crime. The trio also state they “stand against all hate crimes” and label it a “political distraction and a further attempt to silence those who call out genocide against the Palestinian people.”

Sziget also described the decision by Hungarian authorities “an unprecedented move which we believe is both unnecessary and regrettable.”

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