Winston Marshall Brutally Shames Music Industry

The Irish band Kneecap did more than flash an ugly message at last month’s Coachella festival.

The rappers previously called for the death of conservative politicians, according to reports in The Hollywood Reporter and the BBC.

“The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” The trio also has been seen declaring, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.”

Both groups have been designated as terrorist organizations. The former led an attack on a musical festival on Oct. 7, 2023 that killed hundreds of revelers.

These data points resurfaced following the trio’s incendiary messaging at the U.S.-based festival.

“F*** Israel. Free Palestine.”

Sharon Osbourne urges feds to yank Kneecap’s US visas following anti-Israel Coachella set https://t.co/RGYYD0XsHa pic.twitter.com/noRYvQ5m8T

— New York Post (@nypost) April 23, 2025

Now, musicians are rallying to Kneecap’s side as the band faces gig cancellations and condemnations in select quarters.

“As artists, we feel the need to register our opposition to any political repression of artistic freedom.

“In a democracy, no political figures or political parties should have the right to dictate who does and does not play at music festivals or gigs that will be enjoyed by thousands of people.”

Among the bands signing the letter (or supporting Kneecap) include Massive Attack, Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Pulp, Bob Vylan, Christy Moore, Damien Dempsey, Delivery, Dexys, English Teacher, Enter Shikari, Fontaines D.C., Gemma Dunleavy and DJ Annie Mac.

One musician begged to differ.

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Winston Marshall, formerly of Mumford & Sons, scorched his fellow artists on X for their stance. And he drew upon his personal story along the way.

Marshall was forced to quit the band in 2021 after supporting journalist Andy Ngo’s mission to expose Antifa. That “thought crime” was a bridge too far, and he got little to no support from his bandmates or other musicians.

Me: “Andy Ngo is a brave man. Antifa are bad. BLM Riots are bad”

Music industry: widespread condemnation

Kneecap: “Hamas good. Hezbollah good. Kill Tory MPs.”

Music industry: widespread support

That wasn’t all Marshall shared on social media. He drilled down into the hypocrisy behind the open letter, drawing upon the last few years to back up his case.

None of these artists stand for freedom of expression.

None of them have shown support for Morrissey, JK Rowling, MIA or anyone who has spoken out against progressive orthodoxy

None of them expressed concern for brits being sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for social media… https://t.co/QUdDMQJ1dp

— Winston Marshall (@MrWinMarshall) May 1, 2025

He’s right, and none of this is new in the artistic community.

Hollywood collectively failed to support free speech during the woke years. Artists stayed silent, for the most part, as “problematic” art got erased and trigger warnings greeted content. They said nothing as “sensitivity readers” erased passages by Roald Dahl, Ian Fleming and Agatha Christie.

Comedians howled as classic works by Dr. Seuss got memory-holed.

Stars mostly stood down as comedians found their work under extreme scrutiny, with some fearing for their professional lives.

And many artists cheered when a former U.S. president got booted from social media platforms.

Had the musicians standing up for Kneecap spoken up over any of the aforementioned free speech issues they’d have a moral leg to stand on. Marshall’s X post revealed just that.