Kneecap claim they've been banned from running London Underground ads
The trio said a poster for an upcoming show was rejected due to it being "likely to cause serious offence" to the public.
Kneecap claim they've been banned from advertising on London’s underground tube network.
In a statement posted on Instagram earlier today (July 10), the Irish rap trio wrote: “We’ve been banned from advertising on the London Tube. How petty can political policing and interference get?”
“After using the tube to advertise loads of times for gigs, records and our movie, all without issue,” they wrote, alongside a poster for their forthcoming show at London’s OVO Arena in September.
Read this next: Met Police will not charge Kneecap over "kill your local MP" video
It is unclear if this rejection was issued by Transport for London (TFL), who run the tube network, or an advertising agency.
“The below poster has been rejected because: ‘It is likely to cause widespread or serious offence to reasonable members of the public on account of the product or service being advertised, the content or design of the advertisement, or by way of implication’,” they wrote.
Kneecap have been at the centre of a political storm after two clips of them performing resurfaced online, with one allegedly showing member Mo Chara flying a Hezbollah flag during a gig in London in 2024. Hezbollah a banned organisation in the UK under the 2000 Terror Act.
Chara, real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, was charged with a terror offence by the Metropolitan Police in May and was later released on bail during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates court last month. The next hearing is set for August.
The second video, from a gig in 2023, allegedly showed Ó hAnnaidh shouting: “Kill your local MP”; Earlier this month, it was announced that Kneecap would not face any charges over the video.
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Kneecap also went ahead with their scheduled performance at Glastonbury Festival in June, following calls from political figures for the group to be dropped from the line-up.
“Speak out against genocide and they'll use every single angle they can to silence you. Join the IOF, murder kids, fly to London and nothing happens - you'll be welcomed and applauded,” they said in the newly published statement.
Read the full statement below.
Mixmag has contacted representatives of TFL for comment.
Gemma Ross is Mixmag's Associate Digital Editor, follow her on Twitter.
