Kneecap face calls to be dropped from Glastonbury after Eden show cancelled over controversial remarks

On Monday, Eden Sessions organisers announced that the group’s scheduled performance on July 4, 2025, would not go ahead following backlash over inflammatory comments made in past performances.

In a statement, a spokesperson said: “Eden Sessions Limited announced today that the Kneecap show at Eden Project scheduled for July 4 2025 has been cancelled. Ticket purchasers will be contacted directly and will be fully refunded.

The refund process will commence from Wednesday, April 30 2025. Refunds will be processed against the original payment cards used. Purchasers should allow six working days for funds to be received into their accounts.”

While the Eden Project did not give an official reason for the cancellation, it follows renewed scrutiny of Kneecap over historic concert footage in which one member appeared to say: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” Another clip from a 2024 concert allegedly shows a member shouting: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”—groups that are proscribed as terrorist organisations in the UK.

The Metropolitan Police have confirmed they are assessing the footage. Meanwhile, pressure is growing on Glastonbury organisers to reconsider the group’s inclusion in the iconic music festival's line-up.

Katie Amess, the daughter of murdered Conservative MP Sir David Amess, has called the group’s statements dangerous and accused Kneecap of "gaslighting" in their apology. “For them to get up on stage in front of millions of people, who knows what they’re going to say, it could be very, very dangerous,” she told the PA news agency.

Kneecap, made up of members Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin, and JJ Ó Dochartaigh, issued an apology on Instagram but denied any intent to incite violence. “Kneecap’s message has always been – and remains – one of love, inclusion, and hope. This is why our music resonates across generations, countries, classes and cultures and has brought hundreds of thousands of people to our gigs. No smear campaign will change that.”

They added: “We reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual.” “We have never supported Hamas or Hezbollah,” they continued, apologising directly to the families of MPs Sir Amess and Jo Cox: “To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies. We never intended to cause you hurt.”

Ms Amess criticised the statement as inadequate and deflective: “It was absurd, that’s not an apology. It’s deflection, it is not taking accountability, it’s making excuses,” she said. “They don’t understand what they’re talking about, they obviously aren’t educated enough in what they’re speaking about to think that they can use those excuses and everybody will be like, ‘oh, never mind, let’s move on to something else’.”

She also backed calls for a full police investigation: “If the police had followed through and looked into threats against my dad the night before the murder, my dad would still be here,” she said. “We can’t wait until after the act and then say, ‘oh dear, lessons will be learned’. No, lessons are never learned.”

Amess acknowledged Conservative minister Kemi Badenoch’s suggestion that the group should be banned outright, saying: “I think that maybe Kemi is right... but the police definitely need to investigate and there needs to be criminal action against them.”

Sir Amess was killed in 2021 while holding a constituency surgery in Essex. His daughter continues to call for a full inquest into the circumstances around his murder, including why earlier threats to his family were not followed up by authorities.

As of now, Glastonbury Festival has not issued a public response to the controversy surrounding Kneecap.