Irish-language rap group Kneecap and American R&B singer Kehlani are the latest artists to receive backlash in the United States over their support of Palestine.
Kneecap caused controversy following their performance at Coachella music festival in California earlier this month.
During their set on 18 April, the trio from Belfast displayed messages on screens, which read "Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people", then "It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes", and "Fuck Israel. Free Palestine."
The band also said that Palestinians were being bombed from the skies and had “nowhere to go”, before leading the crowd in chants of “free, free Palestine.”
Kneecap, which takes its name from the brutal punishment used by paramilitaries during the Troubles, is known for its Irish republicanism and leftist views.
In response to their Coachella set, TV presenter Sharon Osbourne called the band’s statements “aggressive” and urged the US government to revoke visas for Kneecap members Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvaí.
“Coachella 2025 will be remembered as a festival that compromised its moral and spiritual integrity”, she wrote on X. Coachella's organisers have not reacted to the criticism.
“Statements aren’t aggressive”
Osbourne also criticised punk-pop band Green Day for expressing support to Palestinian children in one of their songs. “While I respect their right to express their opinions, such discussions would have been more appropriate at their own concert, not at a festival”, she said.
Fox News commentators have also condemned Kneecap for being “anti-Israel” and compared their statements to Nazi Germany.
"Statements aren't aggressive" compared to Israel's killing of children, the band told BBC News Northern Ireland in response to criticism. As of January 2025, more than 13,000 children had been killed in the war in Gaza according to UN agencies.
“We believe we have an obligation to use our platform when we can to raise the issue of Palestine, and it was important for us to speak out at Coachella as the USA is the main funder and supplier of weapons to Israel as they commit genocide in Gaza”, Mo Chara told Rolling Stone.
Kneecap manager Daniel Lambert also said the group had received numerous death threats following their performance.
The US State Department refused to comment on Sharon Osbourne’s request regarding Kneecap’s visa. “When considering revocations, the department looks at information that arises after the visa was issued that may indicate a potential visa ineligibility under US immigration laws, pose a threat to public safety, or other situations where revocation is warranted”, the Department said in a statement to BBC News NI.
Kneecap is not the only live act to have faced backlash over their politics this week.
Cornell University has cancelled a performance by Kehlani after the school’s president said he had received complaints over the R&B singer’s “antisemitic, anti-Israel sentiments in performances, videos, and on social media.”
Kehlani was supposed to perform for Slope Day, Cornell’s annual tradition to celebrate the end of classes.
“The selection of Kehlani as this year’s headliner has injected division and discord into Slope Day”, Cornell University president Michael I. Kotlikoff said in a statement on Wednesday.
“While any artist has the right in our country to express hateful views, Slope Day is about uniting our community, not dividing it.”
Kehlani has been a vocal supporter of Palestine throughout Israel’s war in Gaza in the aftermath of the 7 October Hamas attacks. They have signed the October 2023 open letter Artists against Apartheid which called to stop the war and “put an end to 75 years of occupation.”
In the 2024 music video to their song ‘Next 2 U’, the musician appeared wearing a keffiyeh-patterned suit while standing in front of a Palestinian flag. The video also opened with the phrase “Long live the intifada”, a reference to a popular chant among supporters of the Palestinian resistance.
$1 billion funding frozen for Cornell university
Cornell has been among the many American universities confronted to pro-Palestinian protests on their campuses.
In March, the Ivy league school said the student-run organisation Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) would face suspension for “advertising and organising” the disruption of a panel on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
That same month, the US Department of Education sent a letter to 60 universities, including Cornell, “warning them of potential enforcement actions if they do not fulfil their obligations […] to protect Jewish students on campus.”
The Trump administration has since frozen more than $1 billion (€881,000) in federal funding for Cornell over alleged civil rights violations.
Kehlani has not yet commented on the cancellation of their performance.
Despite this backlash, both Kneecap and Kehlani remain popular artists. Kehlani received three nominations at the 2025 Grammy Awards, including Best Progressive R&B album for ‘Crash’, which features their song ‘Next 2 U.’ Kneecap announced on Thursday that they had sold out their entire October tour of Canada and the US.
