British Airways has rushed to pull advertising from the popular Louis Theroux podcast on Spotify in an episode featuring one-half of the controversial English punk rap duo Bob Vylan, who is still under police investigation for leading a chant at this year’s Glastonbury music festival.
The podcast is the first time since the performance that Pascal Robinson-Foster has taken part in a public interview to discuss why he led a chant of “death, death to the IDF” [Israel Defense Forces] and the subsequent fallout and media backlash.
In the immediate wake of the June 28 incident, police launched a criminal investigation into Bob Vylan’s performance, as well as comments made by the Irish hip hop trio Kneecap.
While police quickly decided to take no further action against Kneecap, prosecutors have yet to decide whether to press charges against Bob Vylan.
The Louis Theroux podcast was the first time that Robinson-Foster had been given a public platform to explain the reasons behind the chant, address accusations of antisemitism, and discuss the fallout from the controversial set.
The podcast was released on October 24, just days ahead of British Airways’s planned return to Tel Aviv, Israel, with non-stop flights from London Heathrow.
British Airways was a major sponsor of the Louis Theroux podcast, but it appears the airline wasn’t aware of the content of the podcast until after it had already been aired.
The airline has now pulled sponsorship from the entire series, saying the content of the Bob Vylan episode breached its sponsorship policy.
“Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed,” a spokesperson for the airline explained.
“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,” the statement added.
Following the Bob Vylan and Kneecap performances at this year’s Glastonbury, Jewish groups reported an alarming spike in antisemtic incidents, although Robinson-Foster questioned whether this could really be linked to his set at the festival.
Robinson-Foster explained that his comments were not intended as an active threat to the IDF or as a wish to harm anyone but as a call to end the occupation of Palestinian land and repression of its people.
Bob Vylan’s chant made shockwaves around the world, including in the United States whether lawmakers stepped in to have the duo’s working visas revoked, preventing them from taking part in a planned North American tour.
British Airways is set to resume flights between London and Tel Aviv on Sunday evening after suspending services earlier this year due to the ongoing war in Gaza.
In late 2023, British Airways was forced into an embarrasing apology after it pulled a sitcom from its inflight entertainment system because it featured Jewish characters.
Within a day of being engulfed in a storm of antisemtic accusations the airline reversed its decision, that according to Gary Sinyor, the writer and director of the show Hapless, was made to avoid BA looking like it was “taking sides” in the Gaza conflict.
