A French town has withdrawn their funding for Rock-en-Seine after organizers booked Kneecap — the Irish rap trio making headlines for their controversial political views.
The municipal authority for the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud said it withdrew a 40,000 euro ($46,000) subsidy for the event. In a statement, the city hall said that money had been agreed upon before the final lineup was revealed. The city noted that it respects the festival’s programming freedom and has decided not “to enter into any negotiations with a view to influencing the programming.”
“On the other hand it does not finance political action, nor demands, and even less calls to violence, such as calls to kill lawmakers, whatever their nationality,” the statement said.
Rock-en-Seine is set to take place from August 21 to August 24. Kneecap is scheduled to perform on the last day of the fest, alongside Queens of the Stone Age and Fontaines D.C.
Kneecap has faced backlash across the music scene following their pro-Palestine performance at Coachella, displaying “F**k Israel, Free Palestine” on the screens behind them. Since the on-stage protest, the band said they’ve been made targets of a “smear campaign.”
They were also removed from Scotland’s TRNSMT festival, as well as Germany’s Hurricane Festival and Southside Festival. All three cancellations follow a resurfaced 2023 video of Kneecap where the group allegedly calls for the death of British Members of Parliament. The video was assessed by anti-terror police in the U.K. Another video has also sparked outrage; a video from 2024 shows the band expressing support for Hamas and Hezbollah — which the UK government asserts as terror groups.
Kneecap member Chara, born Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, was charged with a terrorism offense by London’s Metropolitan Police. The band issued a statement noting that they deny the “offense,” adding that they will “vehemently defend ourselves.”
The trio was also facing a criminal investigation over their Glastonbury set, where they led he crowd in chants of “Fuck Keir Starmer” and “Free, free Palestine.” Additionally, the group told the crowd to “riot outside the courts” during member Mo Chara’s upcoming hearings in the UK, though they later clarified that they’re calling for “no riots — just love and support, and support for Palestine.”
However, the criminal investigation was dropped on Friday, July 18. The BBC reported that police concluded there was “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offense.”
