Kneecap reportedly dropped from visa sponsors after Coachella controversy
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(Credits: Kneecap)
Irish trio Kneecap were reportedly dropped from their former visa sponsor and booking agent, Independent Artist Group (IAG), after the recent Coachella controversy.
During their recent Coachella set, Kneecap used the screen behind them to state: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people”. It also read: “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.” The final statement read: “Fuck Israel / Free Palestine.”
Following this, the former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne took to social media to call for Kneecap’s US work visas to be revoked. Kneecap are due to return to the US for a headline tour that begins in New York on October 1st.
The trio’s US performances are reportedly permitted under work visas granted to its members under sponsorship of approved organisations, such as their former partner IAG. A spokesperson for the US State Department told the BBC: “Due to privacy and other considerations and visa confidentiality, we generally will not comment on Department actions with respect to specific cases.”
As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Kneecap’s visas were due to expire this summer. They will have to reapply for an annual permit, which they aim to do under a different sponsor.
Kneecap recently took to social media to make an official statement about the ongoing controversy. The lengthy new statement began, “Since our statements at Coachella — exposing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people — we have faced a coordinated smear campaign.”
The message continued: “For over a year, we have used our shows to call out the British and Irish governments’ complicity in war crimes. The recent attacks against us, largely emanating from the US, are based on deliberate distortions and falsehoods. We are taking action against several of these malicious efforts.”
In the UK, their pro-Palestinian stance has also been under fire for a resurfaced video of their November 2024 concert at O2 Kentish Town Forum, London, which counter-terrorism police are now assessing. In the clip, they appear to support Hamas, the group’s Mo Chara can be heard seemingly shouting, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.” Hamas and Hezbollah are banned in the UK.
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