Die Antwoord exit UK festival bill ‘by mutual agreement’ following artist backlash

Controversial South African hip-hop collective Die Antwoord will no longer be appearing at the ALT+LDN festival in August after a number of artists on the bill expressed concerns over sharing a stage with them in light of past accusations of sexual assault, abuse, racism and homophobia levelled at the Cape Town group.

Last week, Bob Vylan, ZAND and Architects called for Die Antwoord’s removal from the festival line-up, with Bob Vylan’s Bobby promising to “make it extremely fucking uncomfortable for them to be there” should they remain on the bill.

“I’m not fucking thrilled that this band is on the same festival as us,” he stated in a video message on social media. “I’m less thrilled that they’re on the same fucking stage as us. But, of course, I have no say over who gets booked for this festival, so looking for things that I can do is becoming challenging. Now, what I can do is ask publicly for ALT+LDN to remove Die Antwoord from this festival, and from this line-up, which is what I’m doing here, now.”

On May 7, the ALT+LDN organisers confirmed that Die Antwoord would no longer be appearing at the festival “by mutual agreement.” At the time of writing, the group’s name has not been removed from the festival’s website, and no replacement has been announced. Die Antwoord have always denied the allegations made against them.

Bob Vylan posted an update about the decision on Twitter on May 7, stating the “the problem” had been “removed”. “We can all now proceed to enjoy this festival” they added.

The ALT+LDN event is set to take place on Clapham Common on August 30.