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After a pro-Palestinian activist disrupted Thom Yorke’s solo show on October 30th in Melbourne, Australia, fan footage captured the rock legend calling out the protestor.
“Come up and say that,” Yorke said. “Come up on the fucking stage and say what you want to say. But don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it. Come on.” He added, “You want to piss on everybody’s night? Come on. OK, you do. See you later then,” before leaving the stage.
Reddit users noted that the incident happened towards the end of the evening, and that Yorke soon returned to finish the set with “Karma Police.” Check out the video below.
The protestor’s objectives weren’t immediately clear, but it may have been tied to Yorke and Radiohead’s history of playing concerts in Israel. In 2017, Radiohead, performed in Tel Aviv, in the process ignoring an unofficial cultural boycott that dates back to circa 2005. At the time, artists including Roger Waters, Thurston Moore, and Tunde Adebimpe criticized the decision. Yorke defended himself, saying, “We don’t endorse Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we still play in America.” Yorke’s bandmates have returned to Israel as recently as earlier this year, when Jonny Greenwood played shows in Tel Aviv. Greenwood is also married to Israeli artist Sharona Katani, whose family lost a nephew serving in the Israel Defense Forces during Israel’s war against Hamas.
While many artists continue to support the cultural boycott of Israel, others have questioned its effectiveness. In August, Nick Cave said, “Clearly it’s not working.”