Rock
Bobby Vylan cleared by Met Police over protest chant after 'five‑month' investigation
Bobby Vylan will face no charges over a “death to the IDF” chant at a London rally, with the rapper criticising the Met Police after the case was dropped.
Bobby Vylan has been told he will not face prosecution after the Metropolitan Police closed their investigation into a chant he made at an Al Quds Day rally earlier this year.
The rapper - real name Pascal Robinson‑Foster - repeated the “death to the IDF” line during the March 15 demonstration in central London, echoing the same phrase he used during Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury set in 2025.
The Met confirmed they reviewed the incident following concerns raised within London’s Jewish communities, seeking early advice from the Crown Prosecution Service before concluding that no further action would be taken. The force said it would continue working with community representatives to support Jewish Londoners.
Robinson‑Foster responded on X with a lengthy message criticising the investigation, writing: “After 5 months of ‘investigating’, the @metpoliceuk have decided to NFA me for the same thing their mates @ASPolice couldn’t bring a charge about for when it was performed live on the BBC. Great use of resources guys! Maybe now you can stop the harassment and do some real work.”
The musician has consistently defended the chant, telling The Louis Theroux Podcast he had “no regrets” and would repeat it if he returned to Glastonbury. He argued that any backlash was insignificant compared with the suffering of Palestinians, and said backstage reaction at the festival had been largely supportive.
The fallout from the Glastonbury performance was significant: Bob Vylan were dropped by their agency UTA and had their US visas revoked, forcing them to cancel a planned North American tour. Robinson‑Foster has maintained that the chant itself is “unimportant”, saying the focus should remain on the conditions in Palestine rather than the controversy surrounding his words.
