Did crowds at Glastonbury boo and sing "God Save the King", drowning out a performance by Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, in June 2025? No, that's not true: A widely-shared video used audio from a different source to give the false impression that British festival-goers defied the band's Irish republican and pro-Palestinian messages. In fact, the original clip showed a soundbite by Sharon Osborne, taken from the montage that preceded Kneecap's set.
The claim appeared in a widely-shared June 28, 2025, post on X (archived here), which consisted of a video of the crowd in front of the West Holts stage at Glastonbury festival in Somerset, England, alongside the sound of booing and the crowd singing "God Save Our King", and the following caption:
Pro-Palestine, terrorist sympathising, Celtic supporting band Kneecap were drowned out by boos and renditions of God Save the King at Glastonbury this evening.
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The video can be viewed below:
Pro-Palestine, terrorist sympathising, Celtic supporting band Kneecap were drowned out by boos and renditions of God Save the King at Glastonbury this evening.
-- RFC (@SpursWinTrophys) June 28, 2025
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The video footage was authentic, and did indeed show the crowd at Kneecap's June 28 performance at Glastonbury. However, the sound of booing and "God Save the King" was taken from another source and digitally added. In reality, the crowd cheered and sang along throught the Belfast rap group's set.
The original 38-second clip showed an excerpt from the introductory video which preceded Kneecap's set and consisted of a montage of soundbites and clips linked to the controversy leading up to their performance at the high-profile English festival:
Sharon Osborne making an appearance in Kneecap's set today 😂 #Glastonbury2025 pic.twitter.com/QkyARWqjtQ
-- The Rock Revival (@TheRockRevival_) June 28, 2025
Ironically, the authentic audio from the original clip showed the crowd booing in parts, but not in protest against Kneecap, but rather in response to a soundbite by Sharon Osborne, who had criticised the band after they displayed a message that read, in part "Fuck Israel" at their April 2025 performance at Coachella.
The full introductory video can be watched below:
We made a wee intro video for Glasto - crowd was so big a good few heads couldn't see it so here yis go x 🍿 pic.twitter.com/jonejuUEUx
-- KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) June 28, 2025
It's not clear what the source of the audio showing a crowd booing and singing God Save the King was, but elements of it matched a May 2023 recording of Liverpool FC fans booing the anthem before an English Premier League match, on the day of King Charles's coronation:
