The controversy about Kneecap’s statements at its performance is an “absolutely manufactured level of outrage”, the band’s manager has said.
The band is currently under investigation by British police after footage emerged of them allegedly shouting, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory, kill your local MP” at one of their gigs.
Another video seems to show them shouting, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” to a crowd.
The statements have been condemned by politicians on both sides of the Irish Sea and by the families of British politicians who have been murdered in recent years.
On The Pat Kenny Show, Kneecap manager Daniel Lambert said not everything the band says should be taken seriously.
“On the band’s website, it describes Kneecap as, ‘A band with socially conscious lyrics that mixes the satirical with reality and absurdity,’” he said.
“That can be seen in everything Kneecap have done, from everything from the fact they use stage names, the very fact that they call themselves quite silly stage names - like DJ Provaí, Mo Chara - they’re playing a role and playing a character.”
KNEECAP STATEMENT:
They want you to believe words are more harmful than genocide.
Establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral… pic.twitter.com/qZht5532Zf
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 28, 2025
Mr Lambert said that the clip about Tories circulated on social media had been taken “entirely out of context” and beforehand someone had shouted, “F*ck the Tories”.
“Before the bit that got cut, they spoke about the Tory Government and an absolute lack of support for the North of Ireland and the mental health crisis,” he said.
“You know that there was a guy last year, Finn Taylor, and he said that, ‘What you should do next year is bomb Glastonbury’.
“If you print that as a headline out of context from what the guy was saying, he’s a comedian, it appears like he’s appealing for mass murder.
“This is an absolutely manufactured level of outrage.”
After the videos emerged, Kneecap issued a statement in which they claimed they, “do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah”.
They added that do they not “seek to incite violence against any MP or individual” and apologised to the families of murdered politicians Jo Cox and David Amess.
“The band apologised because the family came out and said they were hurt,” Mr Lambert said.
“And if a family came out and said they were hurt, then I think it’s right to apologise.”
The daughter of Conservative MP David Amess, views flowers and tributes left for their late father at Belfairs Methodist Church in Eastwood Road North, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, where he died after being stabbed several times during a constituency surgery. Picture by: Alamy.com.On Newstalk Breakfast, David Amess’ daughter, Katie, said the band needed “re-education” and that she would be happy to meet them to discuss how her father’s murder had “destroyed” her life.
“The lads are happy to talk to that lady,” Mr Lambert said.
“The lads are happy to apologise to that lady; Kneecap has not hurt anybody.
“There was a hurt here that was caused to someone emotionally.”
He continued that the media should be focusing more on Gaza, given the huge suffering residents are enduring as a result of the conflict.
Main image: Kneecap. Picture by: Alamy.com
