Radiohead frontman confronts ‘coward’ anti-Israel heckler at Melbourne concert
‘You wanna piss on everyone’s night?’ Thom Yorke responds to protester yelling about Gaza death toll before storming off stage; he then returns for final song, ‘Karma Police’
Michael Horovitz is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel
The lead singer of Radiohead clashed with an anti-Israel heckler before storming off stage at a concert in Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday night.
Thom Yorke, whose English rock band has defied boycott calls to perform in Israel three times, was nearing the end of his solo show when a protester began yelling about the Jewish state.
While it was not entirely clear what the protester said from the footage, reports said the heckler referenced the death toll of Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.
“Come up here and say that, right now,” Yorke responded.
“Come up on the f*cking stage and say what you want to say. Don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it,” he said, as the crowd roared in approval of the singer.
“Come on. You want to piss on everybody’s night? OK, you do, see you later then,” Yorke said, and then left the stage. Many in the crowd cried “no” in disappointment.
Thom Yorke discutiu com uma pessoa pró-Palestina na pista e abandonou palco do show na Austrália (info do @nme). Segue o vídeo
“Come up and say that. Right here. 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" pic.twitter.com/ZKXgDCEYTK
— Teco verá Smashing Pumpkins (2x) (@Edukator_Teco) October 30, 2024
Yorke later returned to the stage to perform a final number, Radiohead’s “Karma Police.”
Radiohead, which has won several Grammy Awards and sold millions of records since the 1990s, has been the target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, especially in the lead-up to its 2017 concert in Tel Aviv. In response, Yorke called BDS protesters “offensive” and “patronizing.”
The band first performed in Israel in 1993 and then again in 2000.
Lead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who is married to Israeli visual artist Sharona Katan, partnered for an album last year with Israeli singer Dudu Tassa, along with artists throughout the Middle East, including Palestinian singer Freteikh, Egyptian singer Ahmed Doma and Moroccan singer Mohssine Salaheddine.
Greenwood pushed back on critics this year who urged him to cancel a planned tour with Tassa in Europe due to the ongoing war.
JTA and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
