Kneecap’s manager has claimed that Sony told the group to “stop speaking about Palestine”.
The manager, Daniel Lambert, opened up about the alleged comments in a new interview with the Belfast Telegraph, and said that they came following the premiere of the hip-hop trio’s self-titled biopic at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
After it was premiered, the film was acquired by Sony Pictures Classics, before being given a release in cinemas later that year. Around this time, though, the company are said to have asked the members to hold back on speaking out in support of Palestine – something they have done since forming in 2017.
“I know in the case of Kneecap, they’ve made a lot of decisions that have been and will be fairly detrimental to their careers,” Lambert told the outlet.
“I met Sony in a skyscraper in Manhattan… and the first thing was, they had just bought the Kneecap film, and they said: ‘You need to stop speaking about Palestine’. And the lads said: ‘That’s not going to happen.”
NME has reached out to Sony for comment regarding Lambert’s claims.
Band members Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh star in the film, which is based on a semi-fictionalised account of how the west Belfast rap group was formed.
The comedy biopic quickly received critical acclaim, and was both the winner of a BAFTA and shortlisted for two Oscars (Best International Feature and Best Original Song). The film then secured seven wins at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), including a joint lead accolade for its stars.
NME described Kneecap as “arguably one of the best music biopics of all time” in our five-star review, and later named it as our best film of 2024.
Speaking about member Mo Chara’s upcoming court appearance in the recent interview, Lambert told the Belfast Telegraph: “I don’t want to speak for Liam Óg, but I think there’s a great sense of conviction that comes when you know that you’re right… and you haven’t done anything wrong.”
He continued: “You walk into any room, and there’s a group of people against you, but you’re clear on what you’ve done and that you’ve done the right thing, and that kind of counts for a lot. That’s the way he kind of feels about it.”
Chara (real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) allegedly shouted “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah” and displayed a Hezbollah flag on stage. He has since appeared in court and was granted unconditional bail, and is now due to appear in court again on August 20.
Kneecap said at festivals including Coachella and Glastonbury that Israel is committing a “genocide” in Gaza, and have consistently denied accusations of anti-Semitism, claiming that “those attacking us want to silence criticism of a mass slaughter. They weaponise false accusations of antisemitism to distract, confuse, and provide cover for genocide.”
The UN has found Israel’s military actions to be consistent with genocide, and at least 59,821 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry. The state of Israel strongly denies accusations of genocide and war crimes.
Their Glastonbury set was then investigated by the police, with the investigation closed weeks later and no further action taken.
In the wake of their controversies, the band have been dropped from a number of line-ups including TRNSMT, Germany’s Hurricane Festival and Southside Festivals, and Cornwall’s Eden Project. Last month, it was also confirmed that they had been banned from Hungary for three years ahead of their planned performance at Sziget.
Kneecap’s Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap perform at Glastonbury 2025. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
In a statement shared with NME, Sziget called the ban “an unprecedented move which we believe is both unnecessary and regrettable.” Kneecap also responded to the news of their travel ban, and described the decision as “fucking outrageous”.
Earlier this year, Kneecap’s manager spoke out in defence of the band again, and said the members “stand on the right side of history” with their pro-Palestine messaging. “Children are starving to death, and we’re spending six or seven days talking about Kneecap,” Lambert said on RTÉ’s Prime Time in April. “We spent less than a day talking about 15 executed medics.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer was among the politicians who called for the Irish rap trio to be removed from the line-up for this year’s Glastonbury Festival, and recently told NME why he felt the need to speak out.
“Kneecap shouldn’t be performing at Glastonbury, and I don’t support inciting violence as free speech,” he told us. “I think it’s important that we distinguish the issues we all care about and should be spoken about freely on the one hand, and then the incitement to violence on the other. They’re two different things.”
Last month, Kneecap hit back at the government and critics, saying that they “want to make us seem small”.
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