Coachella: Kneecap say their pro-Palestine message was censored from the livestream
The Belfast rappers played the festival in the Indio desert on Friday night.
Coachella is now as much as about the live streams that happen on Youtube across the weekend as well as the overpriced overbearing festival experience on the ground.
After their set on Friday, Kneecap said that their live streamed set was cut out when the band started an an anti-Margaret Thatcher chant, which these days feels rather quaint to be offended by or to remove from a live stream – especially by an American organisation but perhaps Kneecap’s reputation proceeded them.
More pressing though, the band said that their pro-Palestinian message that they show “on screens during performances was “didn’t appear on screens either.” as the live stream was cut.
“Not the only thing that was cut – our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either,” the band said. “Back next Friday Coachella and it’ll be sorted. GRAM to everyone who packed out the tent.”
Coachella happens across two consecutive weekends, so the band will perform in the same slot again next Friday.
Coachella’s billionaire owner Philip Anschutz is a conservative who is known for funding anti-LGBT causes in the past.
The news is troubling the context of Trump’s threats of crackdown against pro-Palestine support in the States. The Columbia University postgraduate student and protest mediator Mahmoud Khalil was cleared for deportation by an immigration judge due to his pro-Palestinian support. A letter written by Secretary of State Marco Rubio in which he stated that Khalil’s presence in the U.S. would have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” was key to the ruling.
It’s a dangerous time for free speech in America, particularly if you support Palestine.
A video Kneecap later shared of their ‘H.O.O.D’ performance ended with the band saying Tiocfaidh ár lá, Free Palestine and free the six counties.
GRMA Coachella
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 12, 2025
pic.twitter.com/44gXspWeVf
“Here, if anybody was wondering, Margaret Thatcher’s still dead,” they said before ‘H.O.O.D’, before starting a rendition of “Maggie’s In A Box” to the tune of KC And The Sunshine Band’s ‘Give It Up’.
Kneecap getting the Coachella crowd to sing Maggie’s in a box 😂 pic.twitter.com/NW7dK63kXr
— Cian ☘️🇾🇪 (@Cian_McGivern) April 12, 2025
Elsewhere, pro-Palestinian messages from Darkside and Green Day were aired without issue.
Nicolas Jaar from Darkside spoke about Khalil’s plight:
“Palestine will be free. These lands that we are on right now, here were committed the genocides that are the blueprint for what’s happening in Palestine right now. The same racist logic. We must continue resisting, here from the belly of the beast. Because this genocide is funded by American money, with technology from Silicon Valley, and thanks to the complicity of all the politicians in this country. I also wanna say that today, these days, as some of you may know, just protesting a genocide that is happening means you can get deported, like Mahmoud Khalil. That doesn’t feel right. Mahmoud and many others are in ICE detention jails. These jails are run for profit by groups like — what the fuck is it called — CoreCivic and GEO Group, they make money off keeping people in cells. We need to keep fighting them. For the sake of everyone there stuck without trial and with no hope, we need to give hope.”
