Kneecap have responded to the “legend” who streamed their entire Glastonbury 2025 set on TikTok after it was omitted from the BBC‘s live coverage.
Yesterday (June 28), the Irish rap trio played an incendiary show on the West Holts stage, with organisers announcing on social media that access to the venue had been cut off half an hour before, after a full capacity crowd flocked to see their set.
Earlier in the day, the BBC had walked back its plans to stream the group’s performance on iPlayer. Just hours before it began, the broadcaster said in a statement that while they were still welcomed to perform, the set wouldn’t be streamed live and would instead be made available as an on-demand version after the set’s end.
This prompted Glastonbury-goer Helen Wilson to stream it, in its entirety, live on TikTok. The stream amassed over two million likes from those watching at home from their phones, and Wilson reportedly burned her fingers after holding up her phone for an hour.
Replying to a clip shared on her TikTok, the band thanked her for efforts, writing: “Helen you’re a legend ! Tickets to any show just giz a shout ! Grma,” – to which she replied: “I cannot believe this. Thank you so much for everything you do and stand for.”
@helensmashinglifeKneecap! Live at Glastonbury Festival, West Holts, Saturday, June 28. Filmed in one go, no editing.. #tiktoklive #livehighlights #freepalestine #kneecap @KNEECAP #peace #vivalapalestina #fyp #viralvideos
♬ original sound – helenwilsonwales
#Glastonbury2025 #Glasto Helen Wilson held her phone in air for one hour to live stream to break the BBC censorship of kneecap performance
What a legend and big thank you Helen censorship from a government of starmer has no place in a democratic society pic.twitter.com/QubWPSXfW7
— Mairtín (@Martin_BELFast) June 28, 2025
big Helen from wales single handedly ruining bbc kneecap censorship via tiktok live hahahahahahaha #Glastonbury pic.twitter.com/T2ZpZj9xyq
— 👹 (@mochichara) June 28, 2025
Helen from Wales held her phone for an hour to livestream Kneecap… she’s says she thinks it was important and got 1.7m likes. pic.twitter.com/g2AP1uUd7d
— Lisa O'Carroll (@lisaocarroll) June 28, 2025
Kneecap, Bob Vylan, Helen from Wales and Jade all woke up today and decided to make history #Glastonbury pic.twitter.com/K4PbWHDKOn
— Alex (@alexr_241) June 28, 2025
Fans were also quick to thank “true hero” Wilson, with one writing on X/Twitter: “Honestly Helen was amazing!!! She has battery issues, her arms hurt, her phone kept getting too warm, but SHE BLOODY POWERED THROUGH! Peoples princess Helen!!”
The highly anticipated set she streamed saw Kneecap hit out at their detractors including Starmer and Sharon Osbourne, as well as play a new track and reaffirm their solidarity with Palestine and the activist group Palestine Action. You can check out a full write-up here.
The controversy surrounding Kneecap’s set stems from their defiant pro-Palestinian remarks at Coachella in April. Since then, band member Mo Chara – real name Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – has been charged with a terror offence, for which he appeared in court last week.
“Glastonbury, I’m a free man,” declared Mo Chara, nodding to being given unconditional bail from his first appearance on his terror charge. Looking out at the sea of Palestinian flags being waved, he later wished the BBC editor “good luck” with editing them out of the footage.
On Thursday (June 26), the band shared a video reaffirming their pro-Palestine stance, asserting that “Kneecap is not the story. Genocide in Gaza is”, something that was echoed in yesterday’s set.
After storming through fan-favourites like ‘’Get Your Brits Out’, ‘H.O.O.D.’ and new single ‘The Recap’ towards the end of the set, Móglaí Bap reiterated: “We’ve said it before, the story isn’t about us. It’s about the genocide happening in Palestine. Free, free Palestine.”
Israel has continually denied that what’s going on in Palestine is considered a genocide, and has argued that it has not partaken in any war crimes.
Elsewhere, Glastonbury has seen politically charged sets from, Bob Vylan and Amyl & The Sniffers, as well as a spunky set from Wet Leg, Lewis Capaldi’s triumphant return for a secret set at the Pyramid Stage, a surprise appearance by Peter Capaldi at Franz Ferdinand’s set, and more.
Glastonbury wraps up tonight (Sunday 29), with the final day featuring a line-up including Olivia Rodrigo, The Prodigy, Turnstile, Rod Stewart and many more. Check out the full line-up and schedule here.
Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2025.
English (US) · 