British Airways has suspended its sponsorship of Louis Theroux’s popular podcast following an interview with Bob Vylan, frontman of the British punk-rap duo, whose comments during a performance at the Glastonbury Festival in June caused widespread controversy. During that show, he led the crowd in chants of “Death to the IDF” and “Free Palestine.”
Bob Vylan, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, appeared in an episode released this week and said he had “no regrets” over the chants at the English music festival, adding that he “would do it again tomorrow.”
In response, British Airways — the United Kingdom’s national carrier — announced that it was pulling its advertising from the podcast, saying the content “breaches our sponsorship policy.”
“Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed,” a company spokesperson told The Independent. “We’re grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy in relation to politically sensitive or controversial subject matters. We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don’t occur, and we’re investigating how this happened.”
At the end of June, during Glastonbury, Bob Vylan led chants of “Death to the IDF” as a Palestinian flag waved on stage. He dedicated a song “to all the bands using their platform to speak up for the Palestinian people.” Throughout the performance, messages critical of the BBC were projected behind the band. “I know we’re on the BBC broadcast right now, so we won’t say anything too wild — we’ll leave that to the guys coming up next,” he told the crowd, pointing to the Irish band Kneecap, which had also drawn controversy for expressing pro-Palestinian views.
Following the incident, the U.S. State Department announced it was revoking the duo’s visas. “Foreign nationals who glorify violence and hate are not welcome in our country,” a senior American official posted on X. The band had been set to launch a 20-city U.S. tour in October, including performances in New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Nashville. Several upcoming European shows were also canceled.
Louis Theroux, one of Britain’s most prominent documentary journalists, is known for his in-depth interviews with controversial figures. His Louis Theroux Podcast is among the most popular in the UK. During the interview, when Theroux asked Vylan about the reaction to his remarks, the musician said he was surprised by the uproar: “It’s not like we came off stage and everyone was shocked. It’s just normal.” He added that his goal was to end “the oppression faced by Palestinians.”
A spokesperson for Mindhouse Productions — the company founded by Theroux that produces his podcast — declined to comment directly on the British Airways sponsorship issue, telling Sky News: “Louis is a journalist with a long history of speaking to controversial figures who may divide opinion. We would suggest people watch or listen to the interview in its entirety to get the full context of the conversation.”