“I feel sorry for all these people who’ve spent thousands of pounds going to drama school,” muses Kneecap’s DJ Provai. His bandmate Mo Chara finishes his sentence. “They must be raging after getting all their daddy’s money – thirty grand for their diplomas, and we just mosey on in and maybe get nominated for an Oscar.”
DJ Provai and Mo Chara are two thirds of the republican Irish-language rap trio Kneecap, the unlikely followers of musical greats such as Freddie Mercury, Sir Elton John and Whitney Houston as the focus of a big-screen music biopic.
What’s rare about this one is they play themselves, despite having no previous acting experience – and are seeing their story brought to cinemas as relative newcomers, rather than after decades of mainstream success. “We know we’re very lucky because mostly [musicians] are dead whenever they get films made about them,” says Chara.
Image: The bandmates play themselves in the film, also called Kneecap. Pic: Curzon Film
The band have smashed out of west Belfast and into headlines around the world – although not all positive. They were banned from Irish public service broadcaster RTE for their references to drug-taking, and criticised by some unionists and former British Tory government members for songs such as Brits Out (which they say is a tongue-in-cheek poke at government rule, not all British people – “it only meant British soldiers and the British state out of Ireland, to leave Ireland be in charge of its own affairs”, says Chara).
Likened to Trainspotting, 8 Mile and 24 Hour Party People by critics, the film also stars Irish-German actor and Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender. It started really as a bit of fun the band hoped would be enjoyed by their ever-growing music fanbase.
Expectations have been surpassed. In January, Kneecap won the audience award at the Sundance Film Festival, an internationally recognised showcase for independent cinema; earlier this month, the film was named as Ireland’s official submission for the best international feature film shortlist at the 2025 Oscars.
Kneecap goes to Hollywood?
Image: Michael Fassbender stars as Moglai Bap’s father in the film. Pic: Curzon Film
“It gives the film real legitimacy, I think, for an international audience,” says Chara. “We’re obviously over the moon. I can’t wait to go and see all the pissed-up celebrities, hopefully, if we get to the Oscars.”
“Get the nice goody bag with the Rolex in it,” jokes Provai. “And if we get the Oscar, take it back to Cash My Gold, get it melted down, make some Claddagh rings for our fans.”
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On screen, on stage, and in interview, Kneecap play for laughs. But theirs is a serious story, one that encompasses the impact of the Troubles on the generation of “ceasefire babies”, their desire for a united Ireland, a lack of opportunities for working-class people – or “low-life scum”, as they are called in the film – as well as the campaign to have the Irish language recognised in Northern Ireland.
Image: Kneecap drew huge crowds to two sets at Glastonbury earlier this year. Pic: Sky News
Fewer than 6,000 people in the country speak Irish as their first language, according to the 2021 census. But numbers are rising, especially among younger people – and Kneecap and other artists and films that have brought the language to the fore in recent years have played no small part in this.
“We get loads of messages about it,” says Chara, who is speaking to Sky News on Zoom from just outside Belfast, alongside Provai. The third member of their trio, Moglai Bap, could not make the call. But in fact, Chara says, Bap received a message about this very subject that morning, from an old friend now having a baby. After watching the film, the decision has been made to send the child to an Irish-speaking school.
The film’s director Rich Peppiatt started taking classes himself after meeting the band. Earlier this month, Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey said they had inspired him, too.
‘People think it’s a gimmick – it’s not’
Image: Kneecap’s fanbase has been growing over the last few years. Pic: PA – Electric Picnic 2022
Chara says he feels happy to be having “any kind of effect” on future generations.
“I feel like it’s a duty we all kind of have now to keep the language alive, considering the families in the west of Ireland never started speaking English, they continued to speak Irish against all odds.”
“People think it’s some kind of gimmick,” adds Provai. “It’s not, this is the daily language we use, it’s how we communicate with each other.” When they first decided to make music – “a good way to get free tickets to Glastonbury and Electric Picnic and [other festivals]” – not rapping in Irish was never a consideration, “because that’s the way we live our lives”.
The rise in demand for Irish language classes
London’s Irish Cultural Centre has doubled classes from four to eight a week in the last few years, while online community Let’s Learn Irish has seen a 25% year-on-year increase for its 2024 summer courses.
Earlier this year, it included a class on Kneecap, and teachers are now planning a seven-week course focusing on the band’s film and lyrics.
“[Kneecap] are energetic and outspoken, and their political perspective chimes with a wider desire for recognition and representation of minority languages, and decolonisation in general,” says Let’s Learn Irish’s Dr Ronan Ó Conghaile. “There is an increased appetite for supporting and protecting minority groups, especially among younger generations, and you could say Kneecap are playing an important role in that movement.”
He also cites An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl), which last year became the first Irish-language film in history to be shortlisted for the Oscars, among the cultural offerings sparking interest.
William Foote, director of the Irish Cultural Centre, agrees, adding other films such as Arracht (Monster) and Róise & Frank to the list. “I think the stories being told are accessible to everybody, as well as having a real connection to those people who are Irish,” he says.
And when read as subtitles in English, the language “doesn’t compare – what you’re reading to what you’re hearing”, he adds. “I think the beauty of the language coming through on film and these stories that are groundbreaking has really helped.”
Producer and film exhibition consultant Gerry Maguire, who introduced a Q&A of a Kneecap preview at the London Breeze Film Festival, started relearning a few years ago – inspired by the band and others such The Mary Wallopers and Lankum.
Kneecap more than anyone have taken the “seriousness” out of it, he says. “When I was a teenager we learned the Irish language in school but we didn’t take it seriously – it was a boring thing we had to do.
“We understood it used to be our language, but we couldn’t see the use of it in culture and in society. I think these new cultural icons, if you like, being part of a new Irish language culture, that rubs off on people.”
‘You don’t have to understand everything – just the vibe’
The Kneecap bandmates knew from the start it was “not a good business model, doing music in a language that nobody really speaks”, as Chara puts it. “You’re kind of shooting yourself in the foot there.” But business was never the point. “We just did it for us and for the craic at the start, and then there was a demand for it.”
They are signed to the independent Heavenly Recordings, “a proper label”, he says. You might imagine some industry bosses would have had thoughts on the mass appeal of their language choice. Heavenly never interfered. “We didn’t need to have the conversation… I’m sure major labels would have us doing songs in English, if they could.”
Plus, he adds, having two dictionaries to choose from when it comes to writing lyrics can make songwriting easier. “If we run out of words to rhyme it kind of opens up this whole other pathway, basically, in the brain. Also, you think differently. If you’re speaking in Irish, you’re in a different mindset than when you’re speaking English, in my opinion.”
Image: Director Rich Peppiatt, actor Michael Fassbender and the Kneecap bandmates pictured at the UK premiere, opening the Sundance London Film Festival. Pic: PA
Chara cites K-pop stars BTS as perhaps the biggest example of how music has smashed through language barriers in recent years. “You don’t have to understand everything, you just understand the vibe of it… a lot of people understand our feel, the energy, at our gigs, rather than understanding the lyrics, and that’s perfectly fine with me.”
Now, he says, rapping in the Irish language has opened more doors than it’s closed. “It’s niche and I think people are into niche things now. I listen to Arabic hip-hop and don’t understand a word of it. It just sounds good.”
Kneecap, the film, is out now. Next stop, more touring – and then, potentially, the Oscars.
“Powerful individuals” at the BBC are making the lives of their colleagues “unbearable”, the corporation’s chairman has said, after a review into its workplace culture.
The independent report, sparked by the Huw Edwards scandal, was carried out by Change Associates, the same management consultancy that led a similar review in 2013, following the Jimmy Savile scandal.
BBC chairman Samir Shah told staff ahead of the report’s release on Monday morning: “There is a minority of people whose behaviour is simply not acceptable. And there are still places where powerful individuals – on and off screen – can abuse that power to make life for their colleagues unbearable.”
He said the report made recommendations to “prioritise action over procedural change”, as well as addressing “deep-seated issues” including staff not feeling confident enough to speak up.
Mr Shah added: “In the end, it’s quite simple: if you are a person who is prepared to abuse power or punch down or behave badly, there is no place for you at the BBC.”
While the review, which heard from around 2,500 employees and freelancers from 19 different countries, found no evidence of a toxic culture within the corporation, some staff said there was “a minority of people at the BBC – both on and off-air – who were able to behave unacceptably without it being addressed”.
The report said: “Even though they are small in number, their behaviour creates large ripples which negatively impact the BBC’s culture and external reputation.”
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It said these people were “dotted across the organisation in different functions and departments”, and were “often in positions where power could be abused”.
While no specific names were mentioned in the report, it did note “some names were mentioned several times”.
Image: Huw Edwards was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence in September. Pic: PA
Some considered ‘indispensable’
One example of poor behaviour given included an “untouchable” presenter being “called out for exceptionally inappropriate language”. It said that while “a report was made” and sanctions promised, a senior manager who was in the room at the time of the incident was “perceived as deferring so as not to rock the boat”.
It said a blind eye could be turned to poor behaviours “when productions were award winning or attracting large audiences”.
The report went on to warn that, “at its worst”, the corporation “rewards” such individuals “by providing little or no consequence to their actions”.
It recognised that some of those displaying “unacceptable behaviour” were perceived as “indispensable” to the corporation, and that by moving “potentially vexatious issues” to formal grievance without appropriate due diligence, the BBC was “tolerating” the problem.
It also said that by keeping those who formally raised an issue “in the dark about progress and outcomes,” it was unfairly punishing them.
The BBC board has fully accepted the report and its findings, as has BBC management.
Image: BBC chairman Samir Shah. Pic: PA
BBC director-general Tim Davie called the report “an important moment for the BBC and the wider industry”.
He said the corporation would implement the recommendations “at pace”, making sure that BBC values are “lived and championed by the whole organisation each and every day.”
Actions being taken include:
• A strengthened code of conduct, with specific guidance for on-air presenters • A more robust disciplinary policy, with updated examples of misconduct and clear consequences • All TV production partners must meet Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority (CIISA) industry standards • A new “Call It Out” campaign to promote positive behaviour, empower informal resolution and challenge poor conduct • Clear pledges for anyone raising concerns, setting out what they can expect from the BBC
Further actions include succession planning for the most senior on-air roles, a new “resolving concerns helpline”, more training for managers and clearer behaviour expectations for freelancers.
A difficult year for the BBC
The BBC has been under pressure to act after a string of complaints against some of its top talent over the last 12 months.
Brand, who worked for BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music between 2006 and 2008, denies all allegations against him and says all his sexual encounters were consensual.
The BBC also apologised in January after a review found it “did not take adequate action” upon learning about concerns over former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood following claims of “bullying and misogynistic behaviour”.
And late last year, Greg Wallace stepped down from his presenting role on MasterChef after multiple historical allegations of misconduct.
Wallace’s lawyers have said it is “entirely false that he engages in behaviour of a sexually harassing nature”. Wallace has since said he is seeking “space to heal”.
In October 2016, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint – with jewellery worth millions of dollars stolen during the audacious heist in Paris.
It was the biggest robbery of an individual in France for more than 20 years – and made front pages around the world.
Now, almost a decade on, the case is finally coming to court.
Why has it taken so long? Will Kardashian give evidence? And who exactly are the “grandpa robbers” facing trial?
Here’s everything you need to know.
Image: Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery. Pic: Matteo Prandoni/BFA/Shutterstock
What happened?
Two years after Kardashian and rapper Kanye West tied the knot in an ostentatious week-long celebration spanning Paris and Florence, the Kardashian-West clan were back in the French capital for Paris Fashion Week.
Her then husband had returned to the US to pick up his Saint Pablo tour – but Kardashian, along with her sister Kourtney and various members of their entourage, remained in Paris, staying in an exclusive set of apartments so discreet they’ve been dubbed the No Address Hotel.
Nestled on Tronchet Street, just a stone’s throw from Place de l’Opéra, and close to the fashionable Avenue Montaigne, the Hotel de Pourtalès is popular with A-list stars staying in the French capital.
A stay in the Sky Penthouse, the suite occupied by Kardashian, will currently set you back about £13,000 a night.
Image: Kardashian was staying at the Hotel de Pourtales
On the evening of 3 October, after attending a fashion show with her sister, Kardashian remained in the apartment alone while the rest of her convoy – including her bodyguard Pascal Duvier – went out for the night.
At about 2.30am, three armed men wearing ski masks and dressed as police forced their way into the apartment block – and according to investigators, they threatened the concierge at gunpoint.
Two of them are alleged to have forced the concierge to lead them to Kardashian’s suite. He later told police they yelled at him: “Where’s the rapper’s wife?”
Kardashian said she had been “dozing” on her bed when the men then entered her room.
She has said she believes her social media posts provided the alleged robbers with “a window of opportunity”.
“I was Snapchatting that I was home, and that everyone was going out,” she said in the months after the incident.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star vividly described the attack in a police report, as reported in the French weekly paper Le Journal Du Dimanche.
“They grabbed me and took me into the hallway. They tied me up with plastic cables and taped my hands, then they put tape over my mouth and my legs.”
She said they pointed a gun at her, asking specifically for her ring and also for money.
Image: Police guard the entrance to the Hotel de Pourtalès the day after the robbery
Kardashian says they carried her into the bathroom and put her in the bathtub. She said she was wearing only a bathrobe at the time.
She had initially thought the robbers “were terrorists who had come to kidnap me”, according to a French police report taken in New York three months after the robbery.
Kardashian told officers: “I thought I was going to die.”
According to police, the robbers – who left the room after grabbing their haul, escaped on bicycles with items estimated to be worth about $10m (£7.5m), including a $4m (£3m) 18.88-carat diamond engagement ring from West.
After they had left, Kardashian said she escaped her restraints and went to find help. After speaking to detectives, she immediately returned to the US on a private jet and later hired a completely new security team.
Image: Kardashian shows off her $4m ring on Instagram
What was stolen?
As well as her engagement ring, Kardashian said the thieves took her large Louis Vuitton jewellery box, which she said contained “everything I owned”.
In police reports given to the French authorities at about 4.30am on the night of the alleged robbery, Kardashian listed these items as having been stolen:
• Two diamond Cartier bracelets • A gold and diamond Jacob necklace • Diamond earrings by Lauren Schwartz • Yanina earrings • Three gold Jacob necklaces • Little bracelets, jewels and rings • A Lauren Schwartz diamond necklace • A necklace with six little diamonds • A necklace with Saint spelt out in diamonds • A cross-shaped diamond-encrusted Jacob cross • A yellow gold Rolex watch • Two yellow gold rings • An iPhone 6 and a BlackBerry
Police recovered only the diamond-encrusted cross that was dropped by the robbers while leaving.
It’s likely the gold in the haul was melted down and resold, while the diamond engagement ring that is now so associated with the robbery would be far too recognisable to sell on the open market.
Image: Kardashian at the Siran Presentation on the day of the robbery. Matteo Prandoni/BFA/Shutterstock
What will happen in court?
The hearing will begin at the Court of Appeal of Paris – the largest appeals court in France – on 28 April and is scheduled to last a month.
It will consist of a presiding judge, two professional assessors, and six main jurors.
The hearing involves more than 2,000 documents and there are four civil parties.
Image: Kardashian at the Balenciaga show on the day of the robbery. Pic: Pixelformula/Sipa/Shutterstock
Who is being tried?
There were initially 12 defendants in the case, but one person has died and another has a medical condition that prevents their involvement. This means 10 people – nine men and one woman – are standing trial.
Five of them, who were all aged between 60 and 72 at the time of the incident, face armed robbery and kidnapping charges. They are:
• Yunice Abbas • Aomar Ait Khedache • Harminv Ait Khedache • Didier Dubreucq • Marc-Alexandre Boyer
Abbas, 72, has admitted his participation in the robbery. In 2021, he published a book about the robbery, titled I Kidnapped Kim Kardashian. In 2021, a court ruled he would not benefit financially from the book.
Aomar Ait Khedache, 69, known to French crime reporters as “Old Omar”, has also admitted participating in the heist but denies the prosecution’s accusation that he was the ringleader.
The remaining five defendants are charged with complicity in the heist or the unauthorised possession of a weapon. They are:
• Florus Heroui • Gary Madar • Christiane Glotin • François Delaporte • Marc Boyer
Among those, Mader was a VIP greeter who worked for the car company Kardashian used in Paris, and Heroui was a bar manager who allegedly passed on information about Kardashian’s movements.
With many of the accused now ageing and with various serious health conditions, and some having spent time in jail following their arrest, all are currently free under judicial supervision.
If found guilty, those accused of the more serious crimes could face 10 years to life imprisonment.
Image: Kardashian at the Off-White show three days before the robbery. Pic: Photo Image Press/Shutterstock
Will Kardashian give evidence?
Yes, Kardashian will face the robbers in court in May.
Lawyer Michael Rhodes said Kardashian has “tremendous appreciation and admiration for the French judicial system” and “wishes for the trial to proceed in an orderly fashion in accordance with French law and with respect for all parties to the case”.
A trainee lawyer herself, Kardashian has become a high-profile criminal justice advocate in the US in recent years.
Image: (R-L) Kanye West, Kim Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Kris Jenner in the front row three days before the robbery. Pic: Caroline Blumberg/EPA/Shutterstock
Why has it taken so long to come to court?
There was initially a manhunt after the robbery, with French police under pressure to prove that Paris’s security was not in question.
Just the year before in 2015, the capital had been shaken by terrorist attacks by Islamic militants, in which 130 people were killed, including 90 at a music event at the Bataclan theatre.
French police initially arrested 17 people in the Kardashian case in January 2017 – three months after the robbery – assisted by DNA traces found on plastic bands used to tie her wrists. Twelve people were later charged.
It was ordered to be sent to trial in 2021 – at a time when limited court proceedings were happening due to multiple COVID lockdowns, and France was holding its largest ever criminal trial over the November 2015 terror attacks.
Image: Kardashian at the Givenchy show on the day of the robbery. Pic: Bukajlo Frederic/Sipa/Shutterstock
What has Kardashian said about the incident?
Kardashian has described the robbery as a “life-changing” moment. She took three weeks away from filming her reality TV show Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and took a three-month break from social media.
In a March 2017 episode titled Paris, Kardashian first spoke publicly about her ordeal.
She described first hearing a noise in her apartment, and calling out, thinking it was her sister and assistant: “At that moment when there wasn’t an answer, my heart started to get really tense. Like, you know, your stomach just kind of like, knots up and you’re like, ‘OK, what’s going on?’ I knew something wasn’t quite right.”
She went on: “They asked for money. I said, ‘I don’t have any money’. They dragged me out to the hallway on top of the stairs. That’s when I saw the gun, clear as day. I was looking at the gun, looking down back at the stairs. I was like, I have a split second in my mind to make this quick decision.
“Either they’re going to shoot me in the back or if I make it [down the stairs] and the elevator does not open in time or the stairs are locked, there’s no way out.”
Three months later, she told a Forbes Power Women’s Summit she had changed her approach to posting on social media: “They had followed my moves on social media, and they knew my every move and what I had.”
She added: “It was definitely a huge, huge, huge lesson for me to not show off some of the things that I have. It was a huge lesson to me to not show off where I go.
“It’s just changed my whole life, but I think for the better.”
Image: West and Kardashian at the Off-White show three days before the robbery. Pic: Matteo Prandoni/BFA/Shutterstock
In October 2020, Kardashian told US interviewer David Letterman she feared she would be raped and murdered during the heist, and that her sister had been at the forefront of her mind during the incident.
Speaking on My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, Kardashian said: “I kept on thinking about Kourtney, I kept on thinking she’s going to come home and I’m going to be dead in the room and she’s going to be traumatised for the rest of her life if she sees me… I thought that was my fate.”
When speaking to French police about the impact the robbery had had on her three months after it, Kardashian said: “I think that my perception of jewellery now is that I am not as attached to it as I used to be. I don’t have the same feeling about it. In fact, I even think that it has become a bit of a burden to have the responsibility of such expensive jewels.
“There is nothing of sentimental value to compare with the act of going home and finding one’s children and one’s family.”
She went on to describe Paris as “not the right place” for her, and didn’t return to the French capital for two years following the robbery.
Kardashian has since said in a 2023 episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that she did not purchase any jewellery in the seven years following the robbery, kept no jewellery at her home and only wore items that are either borrowed or fake.
She said the realisation that material items don’t matter has made her “a completely different person in the best way”.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has demanded the prosecution of rap trio Kneecap after video emerged of the band allegedly advocating for the death of Tory MPs.
Footage of the group at a November 2023 gig appears to show one member saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
Downing Street has described the alleged comments as “completely unacceptable”.
Police are investigating – and are also assessing footage reportedly from a gig a year later in London’s Kentish Town Forum.
In the November 2024 video, a member of the band appears to shout “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” – referencing groups which are banned as terrorist organisations in the UK.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We were made aware of a video on 22 April, believed to be from an event in November 2024, and it has been referred to the counter-terrorism internet referral unit for assessment and to determine whether any further police investigation may be required.
“We have also been made aware of another video believed to be from an event in November 2023.”
Mrs Badenoch said it was “good” the police were looking into the allegations, adding: “Kneecap’s glorification of terrorism and anti-British hatred has no place in our society.
“Now footage shows one of them saying: ‘The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP’.
“After the murder of Sir David Amess, this demands prosecution.”
Image: Kemi Badenoch. Pic: PA
Conservative MP Sir David was stabbed to death while meeting constituents in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, in 2021.
Kneecap, made up of Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, have said they are facing a “co-ordinated smear campaign” after speaking out about “the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people”.
Mrs Badenoch and Kneecap are already known to each other.
The Tory leader blocked a government grant to the bilingual Belfast group while she was business secretary.
But last November, Kneecap won a discrimination challenge over the decision to refuse them a £14,250 funding award after the UK government conceded it was “unlawful”.
Downing Street condemned the alleged comments.
“We do not think individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding,” the prime minister’s official spokesman said.
Asked if the money should be returned, the spokesman added: “That’s up to the group, but clearly the PM rejects the views expressed … does not shy away from condemning them.”