Thom Yorke, frontman of the band Radiohead, stormed off the stage in anger during a performance in Melbourne following an exchange with a pro-Palestinian protester.
During a pause between songs at the show in the Australian city earlier on Wednesday, an audience member used the brief silence to shout comments at Yorke, who was on stage with his band. The protester, among other things, claimed that 200,000 have already been killed in the Gaza Strip, half of them children.
Yorke responded: “Don’t stand there like a coward, come here and say it. You wanna piss on everybody’s night? OK, you do. See you later, then.” And then he took off his guitar and left the stage.
In video footage, the audience can be heard expressing frustration at the protester after Yorke stormed off stage. However, Yorke later returned to perform the night’s final song, “Karma Police.”
Radiohead has had a unique bond with Israel since the early days of the band's career. It's breakthrough song, "Creep," received substantial airplay in Israel even before it gained popularity worldwide. The band has also performed in Israel several times, most recently in 2017, despite international pressure from figures like Roger Waters and the BDS movement calling for a cultural boycott.
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