RTE sued by Bob Vylan duo over claim IDF chant was 'antisemitic'

The British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan have launched defamation proceedings against RTÉ over its coverage of their performance at Glastonbury.

- Rory Carroll Ireland correspondent

The legal action alleges Ireland’s national broadcaster defamed the group by claiming they led antisemitic chants at the festival last June.

The group’s lead singer, Pascal Robinson-Foster, known as Bobby Vylan, led a chant of “death, death to the IDF”, a reference to the Israel Defense Forces, making global headlines and prompting a British police investigation.

RTÉ’s allegation that the band made antisemitic chants was “categorically denied” and “entirely untrue”, Phoenix Law Solicitors, a Belfast-based firm hired by the band, said in a statement.