Earlier this week, it was revealed that the Prime Minister’s Office and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) were not involved in the decision made by Liberal MP Vince Gasparro in September, when he announced in a video posted to social media that Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap had been barred from entering the country.
In response to Gasparro’s claims that they “amplified political violence and publicly displayed support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas,” the pro-Palestinian advocates and musicians promised to take legal action against the MP — and now they apparently have.
Kneecap shared the news on Instagram in the form of a statement that they’re calling “a wee message to Vince.” It reads:
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
While it’s since been brought to like that only one member of the band — Mo Chara, a.k.a. Liam Ó hAnnaidh — had actually been banned from entering the country (his electronic travel authorization [eTA] was cancelled in August due to “inadmissibility for omitting to disclose complete and accurate information on his application”), they were forced to cancel fall tour dates in Toronto and Vancouver.
Days after Gasparro made his announcement, Ó hAnnaidh’s terrorism case in the UK was thrown out. It was issued in May, after the band’s pro-Palestinian messaging at Coachella prompted a Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit investigation that unearthed footage allegedly showed the rapper waving a Hezbollah flag and yelling, “Up Hamas! Up Hezbollah!” at a 2024 concert in London.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has not clarified whether the information allegedly omitted from Ó hAnnaidh’s eTA had anything to do with the since-dropped terror charge. Read the full statement from Kneecap below.
