Controversial British punk-rappers Bob Vylan's Dutch gig cancelled over Charlie Kirk statements

A Bob Vylan concert in the Netherlands, scheduled for tomorrow, has been cancelled as frontman Bobby Vylan has been accused of celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk. 

Kirk, a controversial right-wing activist and staunch supporter of Donald Trump was fatally shot while attending a Utah Valley University event last Wednesday. 

The British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan performed in Amsterdam’s Paradiso Grote Zaal, where they dedicated the song ‘CSGB’ to the late Kirk. The frontman told the crowd: “I wanna dedicate this next one to an absolute piece of shit of a human being. The pronouns was/were. ‘Cos if you chat shit, you will get banged. Rest in piss, Charlie Kirk, you piece of shit.” 

Now, the band's gig at the 013 venue in Tilburg tomorrow has been cancelled, with the venue saying the statements made at Paradiso “go too far”. 

"While we understand that these statements were made in the context of punk and activism, and that the reporting on them is sometimes less nuanced than what actually happened, we still believe these new statements go too far," read the statement. "They no longer fall within the scope of what we can offer as a platform." 

Bobby Vylan shared a video denying they had celebrated Kirk’s death: “At no point during yesterday’s show, was Charlie Kirk’s death celebrated. At no point whatsover. Did we celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death? I did call him a piece of shit, that much is true but at no point was his death celebrated.” 

He continued: “If it was, go find me a quote. Go find me something that proves that we were celebrating his death. You’re not going to find it because it didn’t happen. What did happen, is, one reporter that bought their ticket online, came with the sole purpose of finding something to report and after I called [Kirk] a piece of shit and we played a song, they have written that up as a celebration. Not a celebration, isn’t a celebration, wasn’t a celebration. Calm down.”

The video has received thousands of comments, including from the former mayor of New York and Trump ally Rudy Giuliani who called the band "irresponsible and dangerous". 

The band made headlines this year for their controversial Glastonbury set which saw them call out the UK government’s complicity in the deaths of Palestinians and lead chants of “death, death to the IDF.” 

The fallout from the performance led to the duo to be dropped by their agency, as well as having their US visas revoked.

They have spoken out about the performance, claiming it was vital to “teach our children to speak up for the change they want.” They have also repeatedly said that they were calling for the “dismantling of a violent military machine” and not calling for “the death of Jews or Arabs or any other race group.” 

Charlie Kirk was 31 years old when he died last week.  

A 22-year-old Utah native identified as Tyler Robinson has since been arrested.  

While many on both sides of the aisle have condemned the act of political violence, Kirk’s death has divided opinions online, showing to what extent the US feels irrevocably divided.  

Many have called attention to Kirk’s divisive public stances, which he advocated through his student organization Turning Point USA. His political takes included hard-right views on immigration (“America was at its peak when we halted immigration for 40 years and we dropped our foreign-born percentage to its lowest level ever. We should be unafraid to do that”); gun control (“It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational”); climate change, which he described as “gibberish, nonsense and balderdash”.

His repeated conservative views on feminism went viral last month when he reacted to Taylor Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce. He said: “It’s a great chance for Taylor Swift now to get married and have a ton of children. (...) Reject feminism. Submit to your husband, Taylor. You’re not in charge.” 

Several clips of Kirk’s divisive views have been going viral since his death, including one regarding his opposition to abortion laws. During a debate, he admitted that he would force his daughter to give birth if she were hypothetically raped and impregnated.

In the wake of Kirk's death, some MAGA supporters have blamed the satirical comedy show South Park for his assassination. The episode in which Kirk was parodied has been removed from cable re-runs.