Kneecap - New Footage

Good observations in this fairly balanced article in the Guardian- and rightfully in my view criticising the political cancel bandwagon that’s emerged.

And an interesting quote from the band themselves from 2023- I’ve said more than once of this thread that I believe a lot of what kneecap say and do, is motivated towards widening their following and by default, increasing record sales, increasing concert ticket sales and thus, making money- I mean it’s no secret- money is at the heart of PR- whether it’s to raise funds for deserving causes or to line the pockets of a music band.And no shame in that - all bands need to make money in order to survive

Maybe that’s why they haven’t clearly explained their words - nobody would want to admit that the controversial comments are less about causes and more about simply making money.

“Kneecap seem to be in the Sex Pistols tradition. When I interviewed them last year, Ó Cairealláin admitted: “We’re very calculated in our PR stuff. We know things are going to get a reaction.” “

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/01/kneecap-band-furore-hypocrisy-cancel-culture-free-speech

The thing about good PR is that it changes over time. Calling for certain individuals to be killed can result in great praise and plaudits and then a couple years later you could be in deep trouble for it.

I’d be with the majority of posters here on this thread in thinking that they don’t deserve a prosecution for what they said a few years ago. While the band haven’t stated why they said those things, my only personal logical conclusion was to gain notiriety, and thus more fans, and thus more income/success - it’s rock n roll playbook, plain and simple.

But admitting that’s the reason they said those things, opens up other cans of worms for the group.

I agree they don't deserve to be prosecuted. This thing where it's good to give death threats sometimes and bad at other times means that it is not realistic for citizens to know what's acceptable or not.

Pissing off all the right people. I don't agree with the sentiment but the outrage is bringing a lot of attention to bigger topics.

lot of attention ? World is awash with attention. They’re saying nothing new, sincere, groundbreaking or impacting. Simply supporting a murdering terrorist organization. Abhorrent ramblings

I’ve deliberately stayed out of the Israel/Gaza discussion on this thread as simply, there’s a whole separate thread for that and too easy for this thread to become derailed as a result.

While I’m cynical about the political world jumping on the “let’s cancel kneecap” bandwagon, I’m also cynical of the band themselves -Monty Pythons “they’re not the messiah.just naughty boys .” quote keeps springing to mind.

They’re clearly enjoying the solidarity and indeed, badly needed protection of the other musicians who signed the petition - they have nothing credible or constructive to say or add to the Palestinian conflict as we have clearly seen - from a PR perspective all they can do is use this support to keep deflecting away from their own ill judged behaviour.
Had they just admitted, that some of their comments, which were simply a method of building a unique brand, which in turn would help them up to the world stage and fame and fortune , were just plain stupid - it would be over now- but maybe that’s not 2025 rock n roll.

This should probably go in the unpopular opinions thread but the band have got a major boost from this. Their streaming numbers are way up, gigs have sold out and if promoters keep cancelling gigs they will become the most in-demand band around to the point where they will have to book them or lose out on big bucks.

If you want a surefire way to get young people to go and see a band, tell them that they are not allowed to.

Other people are in jail for talking about death of politicians....for example, Mary Lou McD got the person who in his bedroom threatened her online prosecuted and he was jailed for three and a half years. Mary Lou McD is very quiet on the current Kneecap controversy.

If Kneecap were in jail for three and a half years at least the world would be spared from them for a while. Relatives of those MPs murdered, the last only a few years ago, deserve that.

That will be interesting alright- if the UK took a case against them after the investigation that’s commenced, would that influence RTÉ to shelf it? And if they decided not to prosecute, would RTÉ show it?

I have not heard any of the interviews the manager did, but that annoys me no end. If someone is asked a simple yes or no question and refuses to answer it, then I'd all be for ending the interview immediately.

It's a simple question, answer the fecking thing.

I support Palestine and all the innocents. I do not support violence from any quarter.