Irish Trio Kneecap Blocked From Entering Canada

Irish rap group Kneecap has been ruled ineligible to enter Canada, cancelling scheduled concerts in Toronto and Vancouver next month.

The announcement was made Friday by MP and Parliamentary Secretary for Combating Crime Vince Gasparro in a video posted to his X account. Gasparro said the trio “have amplified political violence and publicly displayed support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas.”

The ruling blocks Kneecap’s planned shows at Toronto’s History venue on October 14 and 15, as well as concerts at Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre on October 22 and 23.

Soon after the news broke out, Kneecap rejected the claims in a statement addressed directly to Gasparro, calling his remarks “wholly untrue and deeply malicious.”

“No member of Kneecap has been convicted of any crime in any country ever,” the group said. “While you outrageously try to claim we are antisemitic, The Times newspaper in England wrote of our headline show in London last night as ‘empathetically anti-sectarian.’”

The trio added that they've instructed their lawyer to initiate legal action against Gasparro. “We will be relentless in defending ourselves against baseless accusations to silence our opposition to a genocide being committed by Israel,” they said.

Kneecap vowed that if they win in court, they will donate all damages to “some of the thousands of child amputees in Gaza.”

The decision to ban Kneecap from entering Canada follows months of lobbying by organizations and politicians. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) had urged the federal government to deny visas to both Kneecap and the U.K. punk duo Bob Vylan, citing onstage incidents they say violated Canadian hate-speech laws and clashed with the country’s values.

Earlier this year, CIJA formally appealed to the ministers of public safety and immigration to prevent the groups from entering Canada.

On July 13, members of a group called the Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem and city councillor James Pasternak called on major promoters Live Nation and MRG Group to cancel Kneecap’s Canadian shows, warning that Kneecap’s performances would spread “demonization and bigotry.”

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather also endorsed the push for restrictions, saying Canada should follow other countries in revoking the groups’ access and pledging to raise the matter with Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree.

A spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lina Diab stressed that privacy laws prevent the government from commenting on individual cases, but noted that visa decisions are made case by case, taking into account security, criminal activity and human rights concerns.

Kneecap have drawn global attention for their political statements on stage. The group displayed a “F--k Israel, Free Palestine” message during their Coachella performance in April, a move that led to their U.S. booking agent cutting ties.

In the U.K., member Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, who performs as Mo Chara, is facing terrorism charges after allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a London concert last November. He was released on bail and is due back in court on Sep. 26.

At Oslo’s Øyafestivalen in August 2025, they also used their set to condemn the Norwegian government’s sovereign wealth fund, accuse the festival’s owners of ties to private equity firm KKR, and led chants of “f--k KKR” while denouncing investments they claimed enabled genocide in Gaza.

The trio recently cancelled 15 U.S. shows, citing the proximity of Ó Hannaidh’s court hearing, further underscoring the impact of legal proceedings on their international touring plans.

Bob Vylan faced similar fallout after leading a chant of “death to the IDF” at Glastonbury 2024, which was broadcast live on the BBC. The incident sparked an official investigation, the cancellation of several festival bookings, and the revocation of their U.S. visas.

This article was updated following its original publication on Sep. 19, 2025.