British Airways Suspends Podcast Sponsorship Following Bob Vylan Interview
LONDON – British Airways has paused its sponsorship of the “Grounded with Louis Theroux” podcast and removed an advertisement after content within a recent episode featuring the British rap duo Bob Vylan was deemed a breach of its sponsorship policy. The decision follows notable controversy surrounding a pro-Palestinian chant performed by Bob Vylan at Glastonbury Festival and discussed in the podcast interview recorded on October 1.
The airline stated the podcast content violated its policy regarding “politically sensitive or controversial subject matters.” A British Airways spokesperson told PA Media, “We’re grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy… We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don’t occur and we’re investigating how this happened.”
The fallout from Bob Vylan’s Glastonbury performance, where they led a chant of “From the River to the Sea,” has been extensive. the duo postponed two gigs, including a Manchester show, after facing calls for cancellation from MPs and Jewish community leaders. they were dropped by their agency, UTA, and had their US visas revoked, forcing the cancellation of a North American tour.
In the podcast interview, Vylan reaffirmed his stance, stating, “Oh yeah. Like what if I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes I would do it again.” He continued, “I’m not regretful of it.I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays. I’m not regretful of it at all, like the subsequent backlash that I’ve faced.It’s minimal… It’s minimal compared to what peopel in Palestine are going through.”
Vylan emphasized his motivation, stating he was acting in support of Palestinians, adding, “If that can be my contribution and if I can have my Palestinian friends… that have lost members in double digits of their family and they can say: ‘yo, your chant, I love it.’… then what is there to regret?”
The BBC,which livestreamed Bob vylan’s Glastonbury set,also faced criticism for not interrupting the broadcast. A subsequent review found the performance had broken the BBC’s own editorial guidelines regarding “harm and offense.”
