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A WOMAN WHO live-streamed Kneecap’s Glastonbury set has accused the BBC of censorship, after over a million people tuned in to her TikTok Live from the festival.
The Belfast rap trio had been mired in controversy in the lead up to the performance, with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying they should be axed from the lineup, and the BBC opting not to air the set live.
Helen Wilson is a business owner originally from Taunton, a town near Glastonbury, and has gone to every festival for the last 26 years.
She’s only been on TikTok since April, but already she’s amassed hundreds of thousands of views, thanks to her live stream of Kneecap’s gig on Saturday.
In the runup to the festival, the BBC wouldn’t confirm whether they would air Kneecap’s performance.
“Amongst my friends, we were all chatting about that and I didn’t agree with that,” Wilson told The Journal.
She and her friends were working at the festival but managed to see the full Kneecap set.
“I work in a bar, and I had a shift, but luckily my bar manager said that my friend and I could go and see Kneecap, as long as we came straight back up to work afterwards.”
She said that the BBC’s decision not to air the performance amounted to “censorship”. This, coupled with comments by Starmer, “made people feel like they needed to support the band even more”.
“We have a right to free speech, and I think the BBC are here to provide a service of news.
Anyone who was in that field for that Kneecap gig knows that there was something very special happening there, that people outside of Glastonbury festival have a right to see. And that’s why I decided to do the live stream.
Holding up her phone for an hour-long set was “really difficult”, as it was “absolutely boiling,” Wilson said.
“The festival organisers actually blocked off the entrances to make sure that no more people would come in, because the field was full.
“Holding a phone up amongst a very tight crowd was really hard … it was so hot, and my phone was very hot as well.
“I just thought I needed to keep going.
“I couldn’t really see the screen of my phone very clearly, but I could see that a lot of people were watching. So I just dug deep and held on and I just did what I thought I had to do.”
Addressing the packed crowd, Kneecap member Naoise Ó Caireallain, who performs under the name Moglaí Bap, said: “The Prime Minister of your country, not mine, said he didn’t want us to play, so fuck Keir Starmer.”
He also thanked the Eavis family, who organise the festival, and said “they stood strong” amid the backlash.
Wilson’s live stream got over 1.8 million likes and has been watched and shared by thousands more since Saturday.
She said she was “really surprised” by the reception it got.
What it showed is the level of support that Kneecap have, and actually how much Irish people really care about their band.
While the performance wasn’t aired live on the BBC, the broadcaster later uploaded a version of the performance to its Glastonbury highlights page on BBC iPlayer.
Band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, whose stage name is Mo Chara was charged with allegedly displaying a flag of the proscribed terrorist group Hezbollah while saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a concert in November.
Ó hAnnaidh was released on unconditional bail to appear before a judge again in August. His defence team signalled that they will be contesting the charges, and the band has said the accusations are politically-motivated.
Kneecap thanked Wilson for live-streaming the Glastonbury set, and told her that she could have tickets to any Kneecap gig in future.
“I couldn’t believe it. Absolutely couldn’t believe it,” she said.
She invited the group to play in Wales, where she believes they’d get a warm welcome.
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