Kneecap have been on the receiving end of legal action this year, and now they’re going on the offensive. The Irish rap group, who have been outspoken critics of Israel and advocates for Palestine, announced today that, as promised, they’re suing a Canadian legislator whose public comments about them “were wholly untrue and deeply malicious.”
In September, liberal MP Vince Gasparro announced that the Canadian government was banning Kneecap from entering the country, citing the terror charge against Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (aka Mo Chara) for displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London show, which was later thrown out on a technicality.
In a video posted to X, Gasparro said Kneecap had “amplified political violence and publicly displayed support for terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas. These are not expressions of art or legitimate political critique. They are dangerous endorsements of violence and hate.” New documents this week indicated that the Prime Minister’s office and Canada Border Services Agency were not involved in Gasparro’s announcement, suggesting he was not actually speaking on the government’s behalf.
Kneecap responded to Gasparro’s statements in September by threatening legal action, and today they have followed through on those threats. In a new message posted to Instagram, the group writes:
A message to Vince Gasparro:
In September we said you made comments about us that were wholly untrue and deeply malicious. You did.
It now transpires you also lied by telling the world you were acting on ‘behalf of the Government of Canada. This was another lie. You were not.
Your own government has made this clear.
Today we are serving legal action against you. As we said, we will be relentless in defending ourselves against outrageous and baseless
accusations.
Vince. When we beat you in court, which we will, we will donate every cent of your money to assist the thousands of child amputees in Gaza.
Finally to our many fans in Canada we are woking to resolve the ‘compliance issues’ that have been communicated by your IRCC.
We look forward to visiting Canada again in 2026 and playing to sold out shows across your land as we have done so in the past.
FREE PALESTINE
Kneecap recently addressed their British legal battle in the Sub Focus collab “No Comment.” Perhaps Gasparro will get his own diss track soon.
