Kneecap led a “free Palestine” chant during their second Coachella 2025 set.
It comes after the Irish group’s performance at the Californian festival last week, where an anti-Margaret Thatcher chant was reportedly cut from their set, as well as their pro-Palestine messaging.
The day after their set, the trio – made up of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí – took to Twitter/X to respond to our article, confirming that the section had been cut from the livestream along with with their “Free Palestine” message.
“Our messaging on the US-backed genocide in Gaza somehow never appeared on screens either,” they wrote: “Back next Friday Coachella and it’ll be sorted. Grma to everyone who packed out the tent.”
For their weekend two slot on Friday (April 18), they returned with a strong pro-Palestine stance, projecting the slogan, “Fuck Israel, Free Palestine,” behind them on the stage. Leftist social media personality Hasan Piker also stepped in to help broadcast the band’s message, joining them on stage to livestream the set via his Twitch channel.
Some uncensored messaging to Coachella
pic.twitter.com/WbHZBrCZl5
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 19, 2025
Lil clip of Hasan going on stage with Kneecap pic.twitter.com/TahqSbzoqt
— KittenCatAubrey (@CheshrKitn) April 19, 2025
Other messaging that appeared during their performance included: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,” and, “It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes.”
During their set, Mo Chara delivered a brief speech, telling the crowd: “The Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the fucking skies with nowhere to go.
“The Palestinians have nowhere to go, it’s their fucking home and they’re bombing them from the skies,” he added. “If you’re not calling it a genocide what the fuck are you calling it?” The band then led a “Free, Free Palestine” chant.
The band’s long-standing support of Palestine has seen them loudly broadcast their message via social media and high-profile TV appearances. In their Cover feature for NME last year, they made their stance against what they call Israel’s “occupation and genocide” of Gaza clear, and went on to help raise nearly £100,000 for a volunteer gym in the Aida Refugee Camp in Palestine.
More recently, they hit out at Israel for breaking the Gaza ceasefire in a “slaughter” against the “most vulnerable people on earth”. It followed the ‘Better Way To Live’ artists slamming the Prime Minister of Ireland, calling Micheál Martin a “lick-arse” and “scumbag” after his recent visit to the White House to meet US President Donald Trump.
Their weekend one performance saw them take aim at former British Prime Minister Thatcher, who they’ve previously labelled a “c*nt”, they said: “Here, if anybody was wondering, Margaret Thatcher’s still dead,” which drew a massive cheer from the crowd, who then sang along to “Maggie’s In A Box” to the tune of KC And The Sunshine Band’s ‘Give It Up’.
Elsewhere at Coachella’s weekend two, A.G. Cook brought out Kesha as a guest for ‘Yippee Ki Yay’ and Lady Gaga suffered technical issues, but used the mishap to joke with fans about singing live.
Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong also came out in a ‘Brat’ hat during their headline slot, seemingly squashing rumours of tensions between them and Charli XCX after their fans warred on social media.
Other artists on the bill include Missy Elliott, Megan Thee Stallion, solo performances from BLACKPINK‘s Lisa and Jennie, Benson Boone, the original Misfits, Zedd, The Prodigy, Beabadoobee, Clairo, Enhypen and more.
YouTube will be livestreaming the festival via the Coachella YouTube channel. Check back here to see our latest Coachella updates.
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