Their ‘tiresome’ stunts include apparently chanting in support of the IRA, foreign terror groups and joking about burning pro-British political leaders.
Kneecap are also known to shout Republican slogans used by the IRA, have mocked the deaths of Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher while calling for ‘Brits out of Ireland’.
But despite the controversy Northern Irish rap group Kneecap has won a legion of young fans packing out sold out gigs – and stars including Cillian Murphy appear to be falling over themselves to pose in pictures with them.
Sir Elton John has called them extraordinary and praised their political brand of music, while left-winger Jeremy Corbyn called them inspiring.
The rap trio from West Belfast are Mo Chara, whose real name is Liam Og O Hannaidh, Moglai Bap, whose real name is Naoise O Caireallain, and DJ Provai, whose full name is JJ O Dochartaigh.
Known for their wild gigs, much of the buzz around the band, who rap in Irish and English and one member wears a balaclava, has come from their outlandish behaviour and stunts.
Police are understood to be investigating them over at least two incidents at their gigs around the world over the past two months, including decapitated head from a King George V statue appearing on stage.
Anti-terror detectives in London are also probing footage where they appear to be leading pro-Hamas chants at a concert where they also appeared to yell with the crowd: ‘Ooh ahh Hezbollah’.
While their fans appear to lap up the controversy, their stunts have been branded ‘predictable and tiresome’ by politicians in their native Northern Ireland.
(From left) Kneecap band members Mo Chara, JJ O’Dochartaigh and Moglai Bap at the Irish Film and Television Academy (Ifta) Awards at the Dublin Royal Convention Centre in February
Kneecap with Cillian Murphy last year
Terror police step in after ‘pro-Hamas’ and ‘Ooh ahh Hezbollah’ chants at concert
The Irish Republican rap group Kneecap are being investigated by counter-terrorism police after allegedly leading pro-Hamas chants at a concert.
Videos emerged over the weekend from a gig in North London last November during which one of the band members appeared to shout ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’.
The clips filmed at the O2 Forum Kentish Town also saw the band seemingly lead the audience in a chant of ‘ooh ahh Hezbollah’, with one draped in the terror group’s flag.
Three videos from the gig were posted by Danny Morris from Jewish charity the Community Security Trust across Sunday and Monday before being widely shared.
It comes after Kneecap used their Coachella set in California earlier this month to show messages such as ‘f*** Israel, free Palestine‘ and chant ‘free, free Palestine’.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘We have been made aware of the video and it has been referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU) for assessment and to determine whether any further police investigation may be required.’
The CTIRU is a national counter-terrorism policing unit based within the Met’s counter-terrorism command which identifies terrorist and extremist material online.
The unit works with service providers to get such material removed, and police can also carry out an investigation into whether the material breaches UK terrorism law.
Videos emerged in recent days of a Kneecap gig at the O2 Forum Kentish Town in London in November 2024 where one of the band members appeared to shout ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’, and was draped in the Hezbollah flag. There was also a chant of ‘ooh ahh Hezbollah’
Hamas and Hezbollah are both proscribed terror organisations, and it is a criminal offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 to ‘invite support’ for either group.
A Community Security Trust spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Hizbollah is a dangerous terrorist organisation with a long record of violence and terror, both targeting Jews around the world and in Syria during the civil war.
‘Hamas is a banned terrorist group responsible for appalling atrocities on October 7, including the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of music lovers at the Nova festival.
‘It is utterly disgraceful for them to be lauded from a London stage, with the whole crowd encouraged to show their support. We fully expect the police to investigate this thoroughly and take appropriate action.’
‘F*** Israel, free Palestine’ slogans and celebrating Margaret Thatcher’s death at Coachella
Sharon Osbourne was amongst those who have called for Kneecap to lose the chance to enter the US over messages displayed on the band’s stage at Coachella, which included ‘f*** Israel, free Palestine’.
The slogans added that ‘the Irish are not so longer persecuted under the Brits, but we were never bombed under the f***ing skies with nowhere to go.’
Coachella organisers were said to have been ‘blindsided’ by the group’s declarations – but Osborne and the widespread US media coverage was cynical about such claims, noting that the group had spread such messages before.
Kneecap also led the Coachella crowd in a rendition of a chant aimed at former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, singing ‘Maggie’s in a Box’ to the tune of KC and the Sunshine Band’s hit ‘Give It Up.’
Kneecap used their Coachella set in California earlier this month to flash messages such as ‘f*** Israel , free Palestine’ and chant ‘free, free Palestine’
Kneecap perform at the 2025 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 18 in California
Police probe as vandalised King George statue’s ‘missing head’ appears on stage at Melbourne gig months after it was targeted in anti-colonial protests
The decapitated statue head of King George V made a cameo on stage for Irish rap band Kneecap’s performance in Melbourne in March
The King statue’s head has not been seen since it was decapitated in Melbourne last June
Police in Australia began investigating how the missing decapitated head from a historic statue of King George V ended up on stage with anti-colonial Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap in Australia.
The crowd at the gig in Melbourne booed the Royal Family as it was unveiled and then cheered as one band member declared: ‘He’s the first royal at a Kneecap gig, and will be the last’.
Kneecap, from West Belfast, also shared images of the head, which has been missing for nine months, on social media with the caption: ‘Remember every colony can fall.’
Australian police had been unable to track down the bronze head since it was cleaved off last June but it popped up at Kneecap’s Melbourne performance on Friday night.
No one has ever been arrested over the criminal damage. A spokesman said: ‘Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit detectives continue to investigate damage to a statue in Kings Domain last year. Investigators are also aware that the head from what appears to be a statue appeared at a concert in Melbourne on March 14′.
Republican band depict Boris Johnson and Arlene Foster on a bonfire (and inspire Jeremy Corbyn)
Kneecap is a Republican band, which has been accused of glorifying the IRA (Pictured: Poster for the 2020 ‘Farewell to the Union’ Kneecap tour that showed Boris Johnson and Alene Foster strapped to a rocket on top of a burning bonfire)
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn (pictured with the band) once called Kneecap ‘inspiring’
Back in 2020, the group’s ‘Farewell to the Union’ tour was promoted with an image of then prime minister Boris Johnson and former DUP leader Arlene Foster strapped to a rocket on top of a burning bonfire, as two band members crouched at the bottom holding a petrol bomb.
And in 2022 the group shouted ‘Brits out of Ireland’ as they unveiled a mural of a burning police Land Rover above the Irish language slogan: ‘No welcome for the RUC.’
The image provoked horror in Northern Ireland, where more than 300 members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary were murdered in terror attacks during the Troubles.
When they met Jeremy Corbyn in December 2023, two months after the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, the former Labour leader told them: ‘Thanks guys for what you do in inspiring so many people.’
Raking in vast sums of UK taxpayers’ cash while supporting a united Ireland
Mo Chara, JJ O’Dochartaigh and Moglai Bap (left to right) at the IFTA Awards in February
The band was in dispute with now-Tory leader Kemi Badenoch when the group launched a discrimination case.
The trio were blocked by the former Conservative government from receiving a grant aimed at supporting UK artists, despite their application being successful.
The Department of Business and Trade, which was headed by Ms Badenoch at the time, said they did not want to give taxpayers’ money to people who ‘oppose the United Kingdom itself’.
The group took legal action against the government, claiming the decision was discriminatory and won in November 2024, receiving £14,250 – the total amount of the original grant.
The trio donated the money to two youth organisations in Belfast, splitting it between a nationalist and a unionist area.
In 2024, the band released an eponymous debut film starring Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender which is a fictionalised retelling of how the band came together.
The film was nominated for six Baftas and took home the award for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.
It was also among the big winners at the Irish Film and Television Academy (Ifta), scooping four awards including best director for Rich Peppiatt.
But victims of Republican and Loyalist terror atrocities later said they were appalled that vast sums of taxpayers’ and National Lottery cash was spent on the movie.
The project received £810,000 from the National Lottery in four payments via the British Film Institute.
It also received £805,000 in public money from Northern Ireland Screen, including a large chunk from the UK taxpayer funded Irish Language Broadcast Fund.
