Hi and hello, everyone. Anthony Fantano here, Internet's busiest music nerd. I hope you're doing well.

Today, we have to do a bit of an update on a very aggravating and strange story that is ongoing in the music industry, and that is all the controversy currently surrounding the Irish hip-hop outfit, Kneecap.

Now, we recently talked about Kneecap coming under fire due to their Coachella performance that happened not too long ago. There were some very strongly worded visuals going on behind them on the stage as they were performing that were in response to the ongoing genocide in Palestine. We covered a lot of the context and everything having to do with that in the video.

To be point-blank and frank, it is true that Kneecap, undeniably, has a history of making controversial statements, engaging in some pretty radical political rhetoric here and there, too. In a statement they released not too long after the Coachella performance, when they were seeing a lot of heat in the music industry, they put out a public apology as well about some of the stuff they have said in the past, but ultimately made the point that the reaction to their statements are a bit outsized when you're talking about the real topic of the conversation here, the real issue, the real problem is the ongoing genocide, which is gross and disgusting, and frankly, agree with them or not, far more offensive as as a thing than anything Kneecap has ever done or said on any stage, anywhere, ever.

Now, you may be of the opinion that, 'Hey, Anthony, look, these guys may be entitled to say whatever they want to say, but they're not entitled to be free of consequences for saying those things in terms of people reacting or having certain opinions or maybe not wanting to work with them,' and so on and so forth. I would say to that, fair. You don't have to agree with me. You don't have to agree with Kneecap or their politics.

But now, as further proof of this outsized reaction to the group and stuff they've said, things they've done on stage, one of the members of the group, Mo Chara, has now been hit with a terror offense by the British government over the display of a Hezbollah flag on stage during a November performance last year.

If found guilty, he faces a potential maximum sentence of six months in prison and a €6,000 fine. And to add insult to injury, he's also been charged under the anglicized version of his name, which the vast majority of the English press insists on using.

Kneecap, in response to this charge, has put out a public statement:

"14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall. And once again, the British establishment is focused on us. We deny this offense and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is. As they profit from genocide. They use an anti-terror law against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage, a charge not serious enough to even warrant their Crown Court. Instead, a court that doesn't even have a jury. What's the objective?

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The band goes on to bolster their positions on the Israel/Palestine issue and also alleges that this is all being done in order to keep them from traveling. And again, you're free to be offended by the display of a Hezbollah flag. As I said in my previous video, I do think there is an argument that Kneecap has taken it a bit far with some of their language and support for the group. Also, it's important to note that Hezbollah is actually a Lebanese political party as well, not just some isolated, ragtag terror group.

And again, I would imagine that Kneecap or any other artist wouldn't see these kinds of repercussions for flying the flag or endorsing the views of some of the most extremist and far-right parties in Israel's political system. The only reason these charges are coming up now at this moment, is because of the controversy and just everybody investigating into the group and trying to go over every single thing they've done and said in a song on stage with a fine-tooth comb, looking for something to get them on to put them in some legal chokehold and silence them in some form or fashion.

Legally unhinged, and again, a distraction from the real actual issue here, the genocide. Every week, coming out of Palestine, there are still stories of shelters being bombed, children being killed, and aid being withheld in some form or fashion from starving people on the Gaza Strip. I mean, it shows you where exactly the government's priorities are, given that I'm sure there are people who are very radical, very vocal on the side of everything Israel is doing right now. However, that's not considered offensive enough to rise to the level of a terrorism charge.

On top of that, with all of the proof of this genocide happening, all the footage, all the everything, all the innocent lives lost, you don't see the British government basically trying to reorient itself to distance itself from it or prevent it. No, instead, focus and resources and all of that are going toward charging Kneecap and approaching the situation and investigating them as if we were talking about hardcore terrorists here.

Again, the reaction and the actions here are obviously outsized. And the only thing more disgusting than watching Kneecap be put through the ringer here is the actual genocide that they're reacting to and doing this all in response to.

I think I'm going to leave it here for now until more comes up out of this story. Let me know in the comments what you think about all of this. I'm sure you will.

Anthony Fantano. Kneecap. Forever.