The British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan have launched defamation proceedings against the Irish broadcaster RTÉ over its coverage of their performance at Glastonbury.
The legal action alleges Ireland’s national broadcaster defamed the group by claiming they led antisemitic chants at the festival last June.
The group’s lead singer, Pascal Robinson-Foster, known as Bobby Vylan, led a chant of “death, death to the IDF”, a reference to the Israel Defense Forces, making global headlines and prompting a British police investigation.
RTÉ’s allegation that the band made antisemitic chants were “categorically denied” and “entirely untrue”, Phoenix Law Solicitors, a Belfast-based firm hired by the band, said in a statement.
It added: “The proceedings arise from a broadcast aired by RTÉ News following Bob Vylan’s performance at Glastonbury festival on 28 June 2025. During this broadcast, comments were made alleging that the lead singer of Bob Vylan led antisemitic chants.”
The firm lodged documents at the high court in Dublin on behalf of Robinson-Foster and the drummer Wade Laurence George.
Darragh Mackin, one of the firm’s solicitors, said: “Our clients are no stranger to utilising their freedom of expression to speak out against the genocide in Gaza. There is, however, a fundamental distinction between speaking critically about the role of the Israeli state forces, and being antisemitic.
“The former is speech within the confines of political expression, whereas the latter is a form of hatred directed towards Jewish people. At no stage have our clients ever engaged in conduct that is remotely antisemitic and to that end, have had no option but to seek the formal correction of same via the remedies available within this litigation.”
Despite requests for a retraction and apology, RTÉ had failed to “address the harm caused” and proceedings had been issued to seek redress for the “significant reputational and emotional damage” to Bob Vylan, said the firm. The broadcast’s wide dissemination to a national and online audience had aggravated the impact on the band’s reputation and professional standing, it said.
When contacted, RTÉ said it did not comment on legal proceedings.
Robinson-Foster’s chant about the IDF, which was livestreamed by the BBC as part of its Glastonbury coverage on 28 June, caused uproar. The BBC apologised for transmitting “such offensive and deplorable behaviour” and its complaints unit found that the corporation breached editorial guidelines.
Avon and Somerset police opened a criminal investigation and last month questioned a man in his 30s – who was not named or arrested – and he attended a voluntary police interview under caution.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a Jewish community safety and monitoring organisation, said reports of antisemitic incidents in the UK spiked the day after the band’s performance.
While visiting Dublin for a gig last month the duo met pro-Palestinian politicians at the Irish parliament at the invitation of Eoin Ó Broin, a legislator with the opposition Sinn Féin party.
