Popular British broadcaster Louis Theroux has lost the support of a major sponsor following his controversial interview with “death to the IDF” rapper Bob Vylan.
Mr Theroux, 55, sat down with the rapper, whose real name is Pascal Robinson-Foster, just a few months after the 34-year-old’s controversial appearance at Glastonbury.
British Airways announced today it had “paused” its sponsorship of the series after widespread criticism of the interview.
It said: “Our sponsorship of the series has now been paused and the advert has been removed.
“We’re grateful that this was brought to our attention, as the content clearly breaches our sponsorship policy in relation to politically sensitive or controversial subject matters.
“We and our third-party media agency have processes in place to ensure these issues don’t occur, and we’re investigating how this happened.”
During the interview, Bob Vylan vowed to repeat his “death to the IDF” chant, which resulted in a police investigation.
The BBC, which was broadcasting the Somerset festival, also concluded that the chant “can fairly be characterised as anti-Semitic”.
Louis Theroux sat down with Bob Vylan on his podcast
|
PADuring the podcast interview with Mr Theroux, Bob Vylan said: “If I was to go on Glastonbury again tomorrow, yes, I would do it again.
“I’m not regretful of it. I’d do it again tomorrow, twice on Sundays.”
BA is expected to carry out an investigation before deciding whether to reinstate its sponsorship of the Spotify-carried podcast.
Mr Theroux, who had regularly taken pauses in his podcast to speak positively about BA, was criticised for failing to challenge Bob Vylan.
Danny Cohen, the BBC’s former director of television, described the interview as “softball”.
Bob Vylan sparked outrage with his ‘death to IDF’ chant
|
PA
Mr Theroux pointed out during the interview that the Community Security Trust had stated that “June 29 [the day after Vylan’s Glastonbury set] saw the highest daily total of anti-Semitic incidents in the first half of 2025”.
However, Bob Vylan dismissed concerns, adding: “I don’t think I have created an unsafe atmosphere for the Jewish community.”
The 34-year-old was not challenged when he peddled the debunked conspiracy theory about US police officers being taught racist tactics “black and brown communities” by the IDF.
Mr Theroux personally went on to criticise what he described as “this certain sense of post-Holocaust Jewish exceptionalism or Zionist exceptionalism”
Louis Theroux attends the BGC Group Charity Day on behalf of Choose Love
|
GETTY
BA’s decision to suspend its sponsorship of Mr Theroux’s podcast received praise from Mr Cohen.
“Theroux gave his huge platform to a singer associated with antisemitic hate,” Mr Cohen said.
Ex-Labour MP Lord Austin added: “British Airways has made absolutely the right decision to drop its sponsorship of Louis Theroux’s podcast after he platformed this hateful singer.
“It was a very soft interview in which Theroux failed to properly challenge Bobby Vylan’s hateful rhetoric. In fact, he appeared to largely agree with him.”
Meanwhile, Stop the Hate said: “Louis Theroux’s despicable anti-Semitic remarks about Israel being a ‘role model’ for white supremacists has left BA with no choice but to drop its sponsorship of his podcast.”
After sparking outrage for his chants in July, Avon & Somerset Police launched an investigation into Bob Vylan’s comments.
The duo were also dropped by a number of festivals, with their US tour being cancelled after their visas were revoked.
GB News has approached Mr Theroux for comment.